


Mahou Clover Z

by Megane_No_Takanofu



Series: Mahou Clover Z [1]
Category: Momoiro Clover Z
Genre: Gen, Japanese Bands, Magical Girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane_No_Takanofu/pseuds/Megane_No_Takanofu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate universe, a popular Japanese idol group, Momoiro Clover Z, attend a private school in Tokyo with an escalation system, Clover Academy. They live out their normal lives as teenagers and idols. But when their youngest member, Ayaka (Aarin for short), meets Clover's new transfer student, the group find themselves caught in an unknown fate that will change their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Classmate and Strange Visions

**Author's Note:**

> Any form of constructive criticism is welcome. But please note that if you find this story in DeviantArt or Wattpad, those are two alternative sites I use to publish my works.
> 
> Side note: Although I didn't put Graphic Description of Violence in the tag, there will be violence but is in the PG to PG-13 rating.
> 
> Due to this being a fanfic revolving around a Japanese idol group, I will be using multiple honorifics throughout this fic and those related to it. I will also be using different titles due to the repetitiveness and a sudden feeling of discomfort when the English translation is used.
> 
> -san: An honorific usually used when referring to a stranger and/or acquaintance or as a form of respect. Often found when referring to someone using their last name. Sometimes found when used at the end of the first name depending on the relationship between characters.  
> -chan: An honorific used as a form of endearment. Often used with female names  
> -chi/n: Another honorific used as a form of endearment. Although not used, it is sometimes combined with the person's first name to create their nickname if it ends with an "i" (Shiori-chin=Shiorin, Akari-chin=Akarin)  
> -neesan/-neechan: An honorific used when referring to a sister or sister figure.  
> Hime: a title that translates to "Princess". It is also used as a name but in this story, it refers to the title used to indicate a character  
> Sensei: a title that translates to "Teacher".  
> Yosh(i): a form of "Alright!" when someone is getting pumped to do something.  
> Mou: a form of pouting similar to someone saying "Man~" or "Dang it~"  
> Ikke: a way of saying "Go". Often used in action scenes when someone is trying to throw something or cheering on someone. Has a more dramatic effect than just screaming "Go!"

_Birth._

_Death._

_Rebirth._

_An endless cycle our kingdom believed in ever since the first Queen took the throne. Are we all just people of the past blending in with the development of others, or are we those that are reborn for something greater?_

Soft footsteps were heard as two figures walked through the mountains. One of them stopped, making his smaller companion bump into him. He ignored the sudden thud and looked out, only to see small clusters of light. “Civilization…” he muttered. He looked at his companion who looked as if she was about to collapse. He carefully took hold of her arm.

“Come. We have to hurry if we want to get to safety.”

She gave a small yet weak nod before the two continued walking.

~~~~

_Two months later_

“Aarin! Wake up and get ready!” a woman called from the kitchen in a small house in Tokyo. “Your friends are probably waiting!”

Footsteps were heard as a young girl came down the stairs, her short platinum hair array as she rubbed her sugar pink eyes. “’Morning…” she said with a yawn. She sleepily fixed the bow of her uniform as she took a seat at the dining table.

She was rather tall for her age as she would usually carry herself more elegantly. Her uniform consisted of a white dress shirt with thin blue stripes to create a small diamond pattern but the collar remained white in color. Covering it was a pink vest where the neckline stopped just before the center of the chest area. It was trimmed with a dark pink with gold buttons and a white and dark pink belt fastened as a bow with a white buckle. The sleeves stopped just before her elbow with white lace that extends it by a few inches and tied together with dark pink ribbons. Her bow was a light blue to match her long skirt but had thin white stripes and had a light pink ribbon attached through the center of the blue ribbon. She had on white knee socks that would then later be accompanied by brown loafers.

_Ayaka Sasaki. Age 15. Nicknamed Aarin by her family and friends. Currently an idol and youngest of her group._

Her mother sighed as she placed the girl’s breakfast on the table as well as her boxed lunch. “You usually don’t wake up this late. Did something happen?”

Aarin pouted as she continued fixing her bow. “Something kept waking me up last night when I was sleeping. You didn’t hear it?”

“I didn’t hear a thing. Are you okay? Should we see a doctor or ask for more days off from rehearsals?”

“I’m fine. I could have sworn something loud was going on outside… Guess I was too tired…” She took hold of her fork. “ _Itadakimasu_.” She started to eat.

~~

“Aarin! You’re late~” a voice teased as the young girl ran towards her friend.

She was a tad shorter than Aarin but had a more mature face that was framed by her raven hair with a fringe hovering over her violet eyes. Rather than pink, her uniform was a soft lilac color with violet trims and ribbons.

_Reni Takagi. Age 18. Aarin’s fellow group member and oldest of the group. Often described as crazy by her friends._

“Sorry about that. I woke up late and couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

“Hm? Did you hear something?” the older girl asked as the two started to walk.

“I heard a lot of explosions and something like a swordfight. I thought people were pulling a prank by setting off fireworks but Mama said she didn’t hear anything. What about you, Reni? Did you sleep okay?”

The girl thought for a moment as she tried to remember. “I was actually awake since two in the morning. You know I tend to watch that Photo Scroll when I can’t sleep. But the cable connection broke due to something happening in the city and disrupting everything.”

“What happened?”

“It was a last minute addition to morning news but apparently craters appeared in the streets.” She took out her phone to show her a photo online. “Police was called to the scene as they were appearing but they couldn’t find anything. No one saw or heard anything until morning.”

“Hm… I guess I was the only one who heard it if no one else did.”

“That’s weird. Do you have a super power we don’t know of?”

Aarin pouted. “Reni. Be serious.”

“Hai~”

The young idol sighed, knowing her older colleague tends to be more carefree.

~~

_“Hey. Did anyone see the new transfer student?”_

_“I heard she’s foreign.”_

Aarin looked on from her seat as they waited for homeroom to start. _“So we really are getting a transfer student… Guess I forgot…”_ she thought before looking out the window. She noticed helicopters hovering over the city, possibly where the craters appeared.

“Sensei is coming!” a boy called from the door, making everyone return to their seats.

The door opened as their teacher entered the room with her call book, making them stand up. She stood at the front before putting her book on her podium.

“Good morning, everyone,” she greeted as the students responded with the same greeting but with a bow. They all took their seats as she smiled. “I will try to keep today’s homeroom short but I have a special announcement to make. As you may know, we have a new student transferring to Clover Academy. Please make sure to treat her well.” She looked at the door. “You can come in now.”

The door opened again as a young, petite girl entered the room and stood next to the teacher. She nervously brushed some of her short, midnight blue locks behind her ear as her soft grey eyes looked at the floor. She seemed to have worn the same uniform as Aarin but the colors were a baby and ocean blue much like a few other girls in the class.

“Please introduce yourself,” the teacher said, seeing how she’s shy.

The girl hesitated before looking up. “M-my name is Tomoko Hamasaki… I-it’s nice to meet you…” She gave a small bow as the teacher wrote her name on the board.

_“We will name you Tomoko.”_

_“Hime! We’ll be late for your lesson!”  
“Mou~ I thought I told you to call me ‘Tomoko’. Hime is too formal.”_

Aarin blinked as she looked to the side. _“What was… that…?”_

“Hamasaki-san has been living overseas with her uncle the past few years so please help her when you can. Hamasaki-san. You can sit next to Yamamoto-san near the front. I hope that’s okay.”

“Th-that’s fine… Thank you…” Tomoko squeaked nervously before going to her seat.

Aarin looked at the girl as the teacher started to take attendance. She couldn’t help but to find the transfer student familiar to her even though it’s their first time seeing each other. _“Why does she look familiar…?”_

~~

“Hm? Visions?” Reni asked as the two were on the roof of the high school for lunch with a few others.

The first was about the same height as Aarin as she had short blonde hair and amber eyes. Her lips seemed to have been curled to be more feline-like. Her uniform was much like Aarin and Reni’s but with yellow and gold.

_Shiori Tamai. Age 16. Nicknamed Shiorin. Another member of the idol group and considered the group genius._

The second looked a little more child-like as she was the shortest of the group and had a rounder face. She had dark forest green hair pulled up into twin tails but also had a fringe on both sides of her face and a fringe hovering just a little over her emerald eyes. She wore the same uniform but with a jade and dark green color.

_Momoka Ariyasu. Age 16. The smallest of the group but also a powerhouse. Voted most adorable due to her small stature and shy nature._

The last seemed to have been around Reni’s age but possibly younger. She had crimson hair pulled up into a ponytail and matched her red eyes. Her ears seemed to have been a little pointed at the top and her teeth were a little crooked, resulting in her canines to look like fangs. Like the others, she wore the school uniform but had a red coloring with a light red and cherry red.

_Kanako Momota. Age 17. The leader of the group and group athlete. One of the more ‘unique’ members._

“I think they were visions… It seemed a little weird when I saw them,” Aarin said before biting into a piece of fried egg.

“What kind of visions were they?”

“I think they had something to do with the transfer student in my class. Apparently we refer to her as a princess.”

“Wait. We were there, too?” Kanako asked, receiving a nod.

“I heard your voice calling to her but we were calling her ‘Hime’ rather than by her name.”

“I don’t remember us meeting a princess,” Shiorin said as she opened her second lunch. “It seems weird to have a vision involving us working with one.”

“Maybe…”

“Did you hit your head with you were sleeping?” Momoka asked,” Reni did tell us you had a hard time sleeping.”

“I didn’t hit my head, Momoka,” Aarin pouted. “And it feels too real to be weird.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t think about it too much,” Reni said, worried her younger friend will be too caught up on it. “You might be tired and imagining things. Not to mention we have to catch up on our schoolwork after missing a few days for work. You might be stressed.”

Aarin looked away in worry, unsure how to make of the situation. _“Am I really overthinking it…?”_

~~

A loud thud was heard as Momoka placed a large stack of books onto the desk, scaring Kanako who let out a small yelp. The small girl put her hands on her hips. “Yosh. I think this should be enough.”

“M-Momoka… Do we really need this many books…?” Kanako asked weakly, overwhelmed of the stack.

“I think it’s fine since we have to catch up. And you’ve been slacking off on homework again, Kanako.”

Kanako fell back in defeat at the remark. “Y-yeah… I guess so…”

They soon heard soft footsteps as a familiar face entered the room. Aarin soon recognized it to be Tomoko who was looking around before asking the assistant for help.

“Hamasaki-san…?” she murmured, catching the others’ attention.

“What did you say?” Kanako asked, not being able to catch what her friend said.

“Eh? Erm… It’s nothing…”

“So she’s the transfer student in your class?” Shiorin asked.

“Yea. Apparently she’s lived overseas the past few years so she’s a little behind in terms of literacy and understanding problems. She even had to visit the teachers during break because she was confused. I guess she came to study more.”

They soon noticed Tomoko looking over at them, making them confused. Reni stood up before walking over to her. “Do you need any help?” she asked, hoping to help the girl.

Tomoko’s face turned red before she quickly made her way to one of the shelves. Reni stood there for a moment before falling to her knees in defeat. “Rejected…”

“You just scared her,” Shiorin retorted. “Come on. We have to study.”

“Okay, okay…” Reni went back to her seat before she noticed Aarin was still looking at where the transfer student went. _“Aarin?”_

~

Tomoko looked through the large shelves, trying to figure out where the book she needs is. She carefully took one out before looking through it. She sighed. _“I can’t read any of this… Even with all the practice…”_

Her bag began to shake as she looked at it. “Hm?” She crouched down before unzipping it, only to have a dragon with dark scales pop out. She fell back from the shock. “R-Ryo-san!” she cried, only to be hushed by the dragon. “H-how did you get in here?”

“I snuck into your bag when you were talking to one of the teachers,” the dragon said. “But that’s not important. Hime. It’s best to head home. It’s still dangerous after what happened last night.”

Tomoko hesitated as she looked away. “Do I really have to…? I still don’t know what’s going on…”

“I know it’s a struggle but it’s probably safer at home than here. It’s best to believe in me, Hime.”

“O-okay…”

Ryo quickly buried himself into the bag before Tomoko picked it up and placed the book back on its shelf. _“Why is this even happening…?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my loyal readers! This is your author speaking and I really want to thank you for reading this fanfiction series. As you may or may not know, I have currently rewritten the entire first season of "Mahou Clover"! Seasons 2 and 3 are currently under revisions.  
> The reason behind this is because I have found myself disliking the flow and characterization of the original. There are also changes in some character designs as well as the amount of detail and interactions between each of the characters that would make more sense to the story such as Kanako's supposed temper problems in their early years and how Magic can affect their bodies when fighting.  
> I do hope that you can still enjoy the series after the revision and be patient as I rewrite Seasons 2 and 3 and hope to actually get started on Season 4 that focuses on their lives in Eutopolis (which probably won't come at all but who knows?)  
> Anyways! Thank you for enjoying Chapter 1 and hope you enjoy the rest of the season!


	2. Confrontation

Soft clicks were heard as Aarin typed on her phone while in her bed.

[ _Are you sure, Momoka? Asking Hamasaki-san about the vision? -Aarin_ ]

[ _I know we shouldn’t bother her but it’s better to do so if it’s bothering you this much. She’s the one that made that vision appear, right? There is a possibility she might know. -Momoka_ ]

Aarin looked up at the ceiling in thought. _“Her name did make the vision appear… But what if she really doesn’t know…?”_ Her phone rang again.

[ _Just remember it’s to take the weight off your shoulders. If you want, I can join you since she’s shy. Shy + shy = fun! -Momoka_ ]

She softly laughed, seeing how her friend wants to make her feel better.

[ _Okay. But hopefully she won’t know so we won’t bother her so much about it. - Aarin_ ]

[ _Gotchu! I’ll see you in the morning, then. -Momoka_ ]

[ _Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. -Aarin_ ]

Aarin put her phone down before taking hold of her teddy bear that rested next to her. She held her up to look at her better. “Do you think it’s okay, Rin? Approaching someone just because of something you see…?” She softly smiled before hugging the bear. “Okay… I won’t be too rough on her.”

“Aarin! Dinner is ready!” her mother called from downstairs.

“Coming~!” She put Rin down before heading downstairs to join her parents for dinner.

~~

_“During this morning’s investigation on the craters, there were some witnesses saying strange monsters appeared and created them. One of them looking like a dragon. Unfortunately, a few more craters appeared in the southeast area where witnesses said the same thing. Some were rushed to the hospital as many citizens collapsed during the attack.”_

_“Well it seems as if we will be having some trouble involving the military if this continues. Funny how people claim them to be monsters and dragons. But we do hope everyone remain safe and stay indoors at all times. We don’t know when those craters will appear again.”_

Kanako took a bite out of the jelly dessert in her hands as she watched the news. “So this is what everyone was talking about…” _“Not to mention I was running late. I didn’t have time to catch the news…”_

“Witnesses must have been sleep-deprived if they claimed to have seen monsters,” her father said with a small chuckle. “There is no way that monsters can exist and attack people. It’s all in children’s books.”

Kanako looked on at the TV in thought, wondering if the witnesses were really telling the truth about this new phenomenon in their city.

~

Kanako plopped down onto her bed as she sighed. “I ate too much jelly tonight…”

She heard her phone ringing. She turned to her side and reached out to grab her red smartphone. “Must be Kawakami calling us on last-minute scheduling again…” She unlocked her phone before going to her messages, only to be the group chat with the others. “Hm?”

[ _Looks like those craters are on the news again. Scary, right? Monsters terrorizing a city. -Reni_ ]

[ _Some people were saying it’s some kind of terrorist attack making it look like a monster attack. But it’s kind of unbelievable to see so many pop up just in this area. -Shiorin_ ]

[ _It’s weird how we didn’t really hear any, either. Will it be better if we all walked together tomorrow? They said to stay safe -Momoka_ ]

[ _Don’t worry so much about it, Momoka. But if you’re scared, I’ll protect you! -Reni_ ]

[ _No, thank you. -Momoka_ ]

[ _Puu~ Don’t be so mean~ -Reni]_

[ _Let’s just walk together tomorrow, then. If anything happens, at least one of us will be able to call the police or something. Besides, I don’t want to find out you guys get caught and become injured. -Kanako_ ]

Kanako sent the message, only to find no replies for a few minutes. She quirked an eyebrow before seeing the others typing simultaneously.

[ _Did Kanako just say she’s worried about us? -Aarin_ ]

[ _She really does love us!! -Reni_ ]

[ _Way to go, Leader! -Shiorin_ ]

[ _Thank you for being worried about us. But just remember we’re worried about you, too. -Momoka_ ]

Kanako’s face turned red before quickly replying.

[ _It’s not like that! Don’t you know how many people will be worried if we got caught in those things? - Kanako_ ]

[ _Poo~ Acting like a tsundere again~ -Shiorin_ ]

[ _I am not. But let’s just walk to school together, tomorrow. We still have a lot to cover. -Kanako_ ]

[ _Okay, leader~ -Shiorin_ ]

[ _Goodnight, leader~ -Reni_ ]

[ _We love you, leader~ -Aarin_ ]

[ _Don’t let the bedbugs bite, leader. -Momoka_ ]

Kanako sighed before wishing her friends goodnight and put her phone down. She looked at the ceiling deep in thought. _“Well… It_ is _my job as leader and friend to watch out for them… Even if they can take care of themselves…”_

_“Leader~ You’re still not awake~?!”_

_“C’mon! We have training today!”_

_“Don’t forget your sword, Leader!”_

_“Fix your hair, too! What will Hime say about this?!”_

Kanako’s eyes widened in shock as her hand went to her head. _“What was… that…?”_

~~

Kanako let out a yawn the next morning as the five made their way to school. _“That vision really wouldn’t let me sleep…”_

“You okay?” Shiorin asked from beside her. “You look like you haven’t slept for weeks.”

“I’m fine… I just saw something and couldn’t get it out of my head…”

“What of?”

“I dunno… Could be what Aarin was talking about. Something about a princess, but you were all there, too. Calling me ‘Leader’ and yelling at me. Momoka said something about a sword.”

“Sword?” the small giant asked. “Does that mean we were knights in those visions?”

“Maybe…”

Aarin stopped and looked at her leader, some form of worry in her eyes. “Kanako. Will it be okay if you come to the middle school with me before the first bell rings? I want to talk to Hamasaki-san about this since she triggered that vision.”

“Eh? Why now?”

“Aarin couldn’t get her mind off of it since it was bothering her so much,” Momoka said. “But since you got a similar vision, it might be best to ask.”

~~

Aarin, Kanako, and Momoka peeked into room 3-4 as they found Tomoko sitting at her desk trying to read through the textbook. “Is she having a hard time studying?” Kanako asked, seeing the distressed look on the small girl’s face.

“Sensei said that she’s been overseas for a few years. Her speech and listening skills are fine but she can’t really read or write that well so she tends to visit the staff room to ask questions,” Aarin said, knowing the girl always leaves the room during break.

“She can’t go to cram school?”

“Probably not. It’s only her second day so we don’t know.”

“Ah…”

“So what should we do?” Momoka asked.

Aarin sighed. “Wait here.” She entered the room before walking up to the girl. “Hamasaki-san.”

The girl jumped before looking over at the girl. “S-S-S… S-Sasaki-san…? G-good morning…” she greeted shyly.

“Good morning. Hamasaki-san. Will it be okay if my friends and I can talk to you for a second? It’s kind of important.”

“E-eh…?”

Aarin soon noticed the sudden fear in the girl’s eyes before waving her hands. “I-it’s not like that, Hamasaki-san. We just want to ask you a few things. We won’t hurt you.”

Tomoko hesitated as she looked down, unsure how to talk to the girl and wanting to study. But as a classmate, it’s better to accept. “O-okay…”

Aarin softly smiled before helping her out of her seat and leading her out into the hallway. Tomoko quickly coward when she saw Kanako and Momoka. “It’s okay. They’re my friends from the high school. This is Kanako Momota, and Momoka Ariyasu. The two of them are second year students at the high school. They won’t hurt you.”

~

The two sat on the bench near the windows as Momoka held out a packaged cookie. “Here. I hope you like sugar cookies.”

Tomoko gently took hold of the cookie before looking at it in awe. She soon remembered why they called her. “U-um… What did you want to talk about…?”

“Hamasaki-san. Do you know anything about a princess and knights? Aari- Sasaki-san and Momota-san said they saw visions about it. We were wondering if you knew anything about that.”

“Princess…?” Tomoko hesitated as she looked down, tightly holding onto the cookie. She gave a small nod. “I know a little… But I don’t know a lot…”

“Will it be okay if you can tell us?”

Tomoko shook her head. “I don’t know… I know someone who does but I don’t know if he could tell you or not…”

“Is that person a friend?”

She gave a small nod. “He takes care of me at home…”

The three looked at each other before Kanako got closer to the small girl. “Hamasaki-san. Will it be okay if we can talk to your friend? We really want to know if what we saw is connected to you.”

Tomoko hesitated before shaking her head. “I don’t know…”

They all looked at her in worry, seeing how they might have pushed her too much. “It’s okay if we can’t, Hamasaki-san,” Aarin said,” We’re sorry if we were pushing you too much.”

Tomoko shook her head. “I-it’s fine… I-I just get nervous around people… I’m sorry…” She stood up before going back to class.

“Hamasaki-san.” Aarin quickly followed her. “Um… If you ever need any help on schoolwork, just tell me. I wouldn’t mind answering any questions if our teachers can’t.”

Tomoko stopped and looked at her. “O-okay… Thank you…” She went into the classroom as Aarin sighed.

“Looks like those visions are connected in a way,” Kanako murmured as she and Momoka walked up to their younger friend. “But we don’t know how it is and she doesn’t know too much about it.”

“Yea… But we might as well try to forget about it. Hopefully it didn’t bother her too much.”

~~

During lunch break, Aarin took out her lunch before starting to leave to meet with the others. She noticed Tomoko already left. _“She left earlier this time…”_ she thought, knowing the girl’s shy nature makes her want to eat alone.

~

Tomoko looked out the window as she was in an unoccupied classroom that was left unlocked. She opened it before taking out what seems to be a dog whistle. She blew into it before the dragon flew in.

“You called, Hime?” he asked as he landed on the table.

“Ryo-san…” She took a seat before taking out her lunch. “Um… Do you remember everything you told me when we first got here…? About the kingdom and these Guards who we have to find…?”

“Of course. Did something happen?”

Tomoko gave a solemn nod. “I was approached by one of my classmates and her friends. They said two of them had visions of a princess and knights. I don’t know if it’s the same thing as what you told me.”

“Well the Royal Guards are knights in a sense. They’re just given the job to protect the heir to the throne. Would you mind telling me who they were?”

“Ah.” Tomoko reached into her bag before taking out what seems to be a CD case. “One of my classmates told me they were in something called an idol group.” She showed him the CD before pointing out Aarin. “Her name is Ayaka Sasaki. She sits a few seats away from me.”

Ryo looked at it. “Naitemo Iin dayo…” He looked at the group of five, examining their faces. His silver eyes soon glowed before he looked at her. “Hime. I need to meet these girls. All of them.”

“Eh?”

“It’s important. You said they received visions of a princess, right?”

“Y-yes, but-!”

“They could be in danger. Talk to them and have them come to our house. It’s important. Understand?”

“I-I understand…”

“Okay. Have you’ve eaten yet? It’s best to do so before you go back to class. I will get some more for when you come home. Take care of yourself and call me if anything happens.”

“O-okay…”

Ryo soon noticed the worry in her eyes. “Just know everything is for your sake as well as theirs. There are a lot of risks.” He spread his wings before flying out.

Tomoko looked down as she tightly gripped the ends of her skirt. _“Ryo-san…”_

~~

The bell rang as the teacher stopped his lecture. “Hmm… Guess I lost track of time. We will continue this lecture tomorrow. Make sure to finish your homework for tomorrow.” He picked up his books before taking his leave, allowing the students to pack up.

_“Hey, let’s stop by the arcade.”_

_“Eh? I have a club meeting.”_

Tomoko looked around as she noticed people were leaving as Aarin was still packing. She quickly packed her things before shyly walking up to the idol. “U-u-uhm… eh… S-S-Sasaki-san..?” she weakly called.

Aarin looked up to find the girls. “Ah. Hamasaki-san.”

“U-um… W-will it be okay i-if you can come to my house with your friends…? I-I talked to my guardian and he said it’s okay if it’s just the five of you…?”

“Hm? All five of us?”

“Y-yes… He said it’s okay to explain everything today.” She soon stopped before reaching into her bag. She took out a slip of paper and held it out. “H-here is my address… I-I have to hurry home…”

Aarin stopped her. “It’s fine. I can go get them now since they’re not busy today.”

~~

“Aarin~” Reni called as the high school students came out of the gate. “Sorry for the wait~”

“It’s fine.” Aarin looked at Tomoko and noticed her nervousness. “Ah. You didn’t meet the others yet. This is Reni Takagi. She’s a third year and the oldest of the five of us. And this is Shiori Tamai. You can call her Shiorin if you want. She’s a first year at the high school.”

“I-it’s nice to meet you…” Tomoko said shyly with a bow.

“Nice to meetcha!” Reni said with a smile.

“So your guardian said it’s okay to tell us everything?” Kanako asked, receiving a small nod.

“How did you know there were five of us?” Momoka asked, knowing many don’t really know of them as a group.

Tomoko took out the CD. “One of my classmates let me borrow this… My guardian saw it and says he wants to meet all of you…”

“Let’s not keep him waiting, then,” Shiorin said. “We can’t wait to meet him.”

“O-okay…”

~~

Tomoko opened the door to the small house as the five noticed there were already shoes available. “I’m home, Ryo-san,” the small girl said as she changed her shoes. They went into the living room where there was a large sofa accompanied by a matching loveseat. Tomoko looked at them. “Ryo-san will be out in a minute… You can take a seat.”

“Th-thank you.” The five took a seat on the sofa, seeing how it managed to fit all five.

Tomoko soon noticed the tight fit. “Y-you don’t have to squeeze in… It’s really fine if you use the other one…”

“S-sorry. Force of habit,” Kanako said sheepishly, knowing they tend to sit in formation together. “Takagi.”

“Just me?” Reni moved to the loveseat before Tomoko took a seat at the coffee table, her legs under her as she sat seiza-style. “Hamasaki-san. There’s room over here.”

“I-it’s fine… It’s part of the custom where I’m from…”

“Custom?”

Footsteps were heard as a young man who seemed to be in his late-20s entered the room. He had neat long black hair with silver tips and sharp silver eyes. He wore a butler uniform but the pin on his tie had an insignia the girls didn’t seem to recognize and had a silver ring on his right ring finger.

“Looks like you came home on time, Tomoko,” he said as he placed some trays of snacks and drinks on the coffee table and took a seat next to the small girl. He gave a bow to the five. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m Ryo Hamasaki, Tomoko’s guardian.”

“I-it’s nice to meet you.” The five gave a bow in response.

“Um… Hamasaki-san. Can you hear us out?” Kanako asked,” We don’t know if Hamasaki-san has told you but two of us had visions of a princess and knights. One of us saw it after meeting Hamasaki-san.”

Ryo cleared his throat as he drank some tea. “Well it is strange to have visions of something unless you think about it intentionally. But when it comes to this situation, this information is the type that you will refuse to believe no matter what we tell you.

“Tomoko and I actually came from a destroyed kingdom that existed long before what history tells you. Possibly before those creatures called dinosaurs existed. It is called Eutopolis. A kingdom designed for peace and ruled by Magic. The most powerful being is the Crown, an omniscient object that created life on this planet and sets order as long as it is in the possession of the family that holds a pure heart. Tomoko is part of that family as well as the family that rules over the kingdom.”

“A kingdom that existed before even the dinosaurs…?” Shiorin murmured,” But Magic? Those are only told in storybooks.”

“Of course. Something that is often considered a myth due to modern practices can only be told as fictional stories. But Eutopolis was different. Magic strived as Mages of different kinds lived together with creatures such as elves and dwarves. But that doesn’t mean I am finished.

“The kingdom of Eutopolis has forever been plagued by darkness called the Dark Syndicate. They are monsters that hide in the shadows and manifest from the darkness in others, feeding off the dark energy to grow stronger. They are one of the few types that oppose and target the Crown for its immense power, putting the family in danger. In order to protect the peace and keeping the Crown from harm’s way, a few select Mages are chosen since birth to train their powerful Magic and protect the Crown. And those Mages are the five of you.”

“Wait a minute… That can’t be true. We don’t know anything about Magic or this kingdom,” Kanako said.

“Only because you were born and raised in this time. Eutopolis existed billions of years ago and was destroyed by the time our princess reached fourteen. You all sacrificed your lives to send her and myself to this time period in hopes of finding you and continue what hasn’t ended.”

“So… those visions Kanako and Aarin had…” Reni started.

“Memories of your past life as the Royal Guards. You all helped raise and nurture Hime as part of your job as Royal Guards. It was a sign your powers and memories are beginning to reemerge and putting you at risk to the Dark Syndicates. Luckily they haven’t found you yet despite the ruckus caused by their actions.”

“What did they do?”

“It’s probably all over the news but they were the ones who created those craters that are being fixed. I had to fight them to avoid more damage to this city.”

“So that dragon and other monsters were them?” Momoka asked.

“That is true. But that dragon is actually me.” His eyes glowed as he transformed into his smaller form. “Proof enough?”


	3. A Forgotten Past

The five looked at the dragon in shock as Ryo perched himself on the table before taking a bite of an apple slice.

“So dragons really do exist…?” Reni asked.

“And what you’re telling us is real…?” Momoka murmured.

“I wouldn’t lie about our origins. It will take time to get used to,” the dragon said before turning back to his human form. “I usually take this form around others to make it seem less suspicious.”

“So what about Hamasaki-san? She said she doesn’t know a lot,” Shiorin asked.

“The Dark Syndicate launched a mass attack on the capital, resulting in casualties of hundreds as they preyed on the fear from the citizens. They managed to break through the barrier surrounding the palace, resulting in several soldiers fighting with the Royal Guards assisting them. But due to the fact defeat is inescapable, they decided it was best to send the Crown into a distant future to search for them. But during the escape, the event cause enough stress to give her amnesia of everything. Her identity, those around her, even what actually happened.” He soon noticed the time. “It seems to be getting a bit late.” He reached under the coffee table to take out a box before opening it. He took out five silver necklaces with small pendants—a ruby, an amber, a pink diamond, an emerald, and an amethyst—before they each floated to the girls’ hands. “Keep these with you. If your memories begin to appear, it’s possible your powers will as well. Those will help stabilize your Magic in case they ever activate.”

The five looked at him, unsure if they can truly believe him.

~

Tomoko looked at Ryo worriedly after the five left.

“I’ll get started on dinner. I hope you don’t mind pork bowls.” He started to make his way to the kitchen but found his arm grabbed by the girl. He turned to her. “What is it, Hime?”

Tomoko looked away before she closed her eyes. She reopened them as they turned a dark blue. “Ryo-san… Will they be in danger now…? Will they have to fight like you…?” she asked softly.

The dragon looked away, knowing the information can put the five more at risk. He pulled her into a hug. “At least one of them should be safe… I promise…” He soon heard soft sobs as Tomoko tightly hugged him.

~~

“So… what now…?” Shiorin asked as the five made their way home. “Now that they told us…”

“I don’t know… It just seems strange…” Kanako murmured. “I mean… Sure, it does explain those visions, but I don’t even know if everything they said was true… Hamasaki-san as a Princess we have to protect. We’re actually the reincarnations of powerful Magic users. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“But we do know Magic is real. At least to an extent,” Reni said,” Him turning into a dragon looked too real to be fake. We just don’t know if this whole Guard business actually does involve the five of us.”

“Either way, it’s probably best to avoid it. I can’t let any of you get hurt.”

“Then what about you?” Aarin asked.

“All of us will avoid it. It’s too risky to follow along.” They all reached an intersection and stopped.

“Guess we’ll end here,” Shiorin sighed. She looked at her leader. “You sure it’s okay?”

“Yea. Besides. What will our family or Kawakami say if we show up injured or caught in those battles? It’s too risky.”

“Okay…” They all split off, Shiorin and Aarin heading left, Reni and Momoka heading right, and Kanako heading forward.

_“I definitely can’t let them get hurt… No matter what they say…”_

~

“Reni… Do you think it’s right…? Avoiding everything involving Hamasaki-san?” Momoka asked as she walked alongside her older friend.

The girl in purple shrugged. “I just don’t know. I never saw anyone that serious about a topic like this.” She took out the pendant from her hoodie pocket. “I don’t want to disobey Kanko’s orders but… it just feels like I have to… This thing is actually giving me a weird feeling… I just don’t know what it is…”

“Reni…”

Reni pocketed the pendant. “But it’s fine, Momoka. It’s probably better to follow Kanako’s lead. It wouldn’t be good to be involved with strangers too much. But it’s all on you.” She wrapped her arm around the smaller girl and gently petted her head. “Don’t worry so much.”

“If you say so…”

Reni softly smiled. “Want to stop by the convenience store on our way back? I heard the pudding is really good today.”

“Okay. I can go for a snack.”

“Yes! Dango pudding!”

“Hey~” Momoka whined teasingly, making the two laugh.

~~

Tomoko slowly made her way to school, a study book in her hands as she walked. _“These are really hard to read… Kanji…”_ she thought with a small pout.

A hand gently tapped her shoulder, making her jump and accidentally throwing her book up a little bit. She quickly scrambled to catch it before turning, only to find Reni. “T-T-Takagi-san…” she squeaked. “G-g-good morning…”

“’Morning~” Reni greeted with a smile. “I didn’t know you take this route, Tomoko. Ah. Is it okay if I can call you Tomoko? I don’t know when you’ll regain your memories and it’s possible you won’t remember your last name by then. Ne?”

Tomoko hesitated before giving a shy nod. “Th-that’s fine…” The two continued walking before reaching a stoplight. Reni soon noticed the girl’s book.

“Ah. You’re studying kanji. Aarin told me you’re having trouble reading them since you don’t read and write that well. You’re still using hira and kata which makes the teachers angry, right?”

“Y-yes… They told me I should already know the characters by now… Ryo-san has been helping me study the past month but I can’t seem to understand that well…”

“Eh? He already knows?”

Tomoko gave a small nod. “He said dragons adapt to their environment more easily than humans so he managed to learn the language quickly since it sounds like the Eutopolian language…”

“Really? Will it be okay if you can teach me some of it, then? We’re really early today so we have time. I can teach you Japanese, too. Kanji is my biggest strength in school.”

Tomoko’s eyes turned yellow as she looked at the older girl in awe. “I-i-is that really okay?”

“Of course! Ah. Careful there. Your eyes are changing.” She stopped. _“Eh? I’m… not shocked by it at all…”_ She looked at the girl who was rubbing her eyes before they turned back to their grey colors. _“Am I regaining habits from the past…?”_

“Takagi-san?” Tomoko looked at her worriedly, seeing the older girl’s eccentric demeanor disappeared after pointing out her eyes.

“Eh? Ah… It’s fine. C’mon. If we get there sooner, I can teach you some more.”

“O-okay…”

_“Kanako will yell at me for sure… But I ran into her so it’s fine, right…?”_

~~

“So ‘kaze’ is written like this. So if you write it like ‘kaze wa tsuyoi’, it will make ‘The wind is strong’,” Reni said as the two sat in the library.

Tomoko looked on in awe as the older girl wrote down notes in her notebook to help her understand.

Reni smiled when she saw the girl so eager. “Most of these will be used in class so make sure to keep these with you. If you have any trouble, just tell us, okay?”

“A-arigatou gozaimasu.” Tomoko looked at the notes before writing down what seems to resemble old runes. “So this is ‘wind’… ‘water’… ‘earth’… ‘fire’…”

Reni looked at her writing. “So that’s the writing you use… Looks simpler than ours.”

“Really?”

“Yea. There are always rules for them. That’s why we sometimes have trouble reading them.”

“I see…” Tomoko soon noticed the time. “Ah. I have to meet with Andou-sensei before homeroom. I’m sorry for taking up your time like this.” She stood up to pack her things.

“It’s fine, Tomoko. We learned a lot today. Just be careful, okay?”

“O-okay… But Takagi-san… Um… If you really don’t want to fight with Ryo-san, you don’t have to force yourself. I don’t remember anything and I really don’t want other people involved without their permission.”

Reni softly smiled before petting her head. “Don’t worry so much about us, Tomoko. Just know that if we ever help you fight, we will do so by our own choice, not because of what your guardian said. It’s-o-kay.”

_“It’s-o-kay!”_

_“Are you sure…? I ripped your cloak…”_

_“Of course! Besides, it was by accident. It will be fixed as fast as you can say ‘sa-shi-su-se-so!’”_

Reni blinked as she looked at the girl, only to find worry in the smaller girl’s eyes. “Takagi-san?”

Reni shook her head to get rid of the sudden vision. “It’s fine. Guess I just saw something. Don’t worry so much.” She packed her belongings before taking her leave, only to have her hand grabbed. She looked back to find Tomoko with tears in her eyes. “Tomoko?”

“Takagi-san… Please don’t recover your memories… Just please… Everything Ryo-san told me… Everything he told you and the others… It’s just too terrible to remember…”

“Tomoko…” She let out a soft sigh before taking out a handkerchief to help her wipe away her tears. “Funny how what I saw had you crying… But don’t worry so much… I’m sure that there’s a good reason for us to remember. Don’t blame yourself, okay? I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Takagi-san…”

Reni pulled her into a hug. “Cheer up, okay? I’m sure Ryo wouldn’t want you upset like this.”

~~

Shiorin furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to read the piece of paper Reni gave her during lunch. “What is this?”

“The reason why Tomoko can’t read or write well in class,” Reni said with a grin. “She taught me a few things since I was curious and she was studying on her way here.”

“Reni. I thought I said to not get too involved with her,” Kanako chided.

“Kanako~ Can’t I help an underclassman with her work~?” Reni whined teasingly as she waved her hand. “I just got curious~ We didn’t even talk about the past aside from the language~”

“Reni.”

“I bet you’re concerned, too, Leader~”

At this, Kanako’s face turned red. “H-hey! I never said that!”

“Ah. Her face is red,” Aarin said after biting a piece of fried chicken.

“A-chan!” Kanako’s face turned redder at this. “I never said anything about being worried!”

“But you were definitely thinking about Eutopolis after we all got home,” Shiorin teased with a sly smile. “Maybe to make sure we don’t get hurt but definitely thinking about it.”

“Tamai!”

“Let’s just leave Kanako alone for now,” Momoka said, seeing how they might make their leader blow a fuse. “But Reni. Are you sure it was okay? Did you recover any memories?”

Reni stopped before looking away, nervously scratching her cheek. “Maybe one…”

“EH?!” the four look at her in shock.

“Well Kanako and Aarin already got one! And it wasn’t that bad!” the older girl cried.

“What should we do with you, Reni…?” Aarin sighed as she rested her hand on her forehead.

“A-chan~ I’m sorry~ It came by accident~”

“We don’t what we’re going to do with you…” Shiorin muttered before taking another bite of her lunch.

~~

Kanako walked through the halls after running an errand for her science teacher. _“Mou~ What should we do with her…? Ignoring me like that…”_

She looked out the window to find Tomoko running into the high school building with a stack of papers in her arms, possibly running an errand as well. “Hamasaki-san…?”

~~

Kanako looked at the middle school building as she waited for Tomoko, already telling the others to go ahead without her. She soon spotted the small girl who was trailing behind the large crowd. She quickly rushed over.

“Hamasaki-san.”

Tomoko looked up to find Kanako. “Momota-san…” She tightly held onto her bag, remembering what happened with Reni that morning. She stepped back, making Kanako stop.

“You okay?”

“I-I’m fine… I just… I don’t want to bother you…” the small girl murmured.

Kanako looked at her, realizing the girl’s sudden fear. She walked up to her. “I just want to apologize… Reni told me what happened this morning during lunch and I figured you might be worried we’ll keep remembering things if we keep getting close to you.”

“Eh…?”

“Don’t worry about it too much. We might be recovering memories but it’s probably just some small stuff we don’t have to worry about too much. Besides, it’s not your fault. They started to appear before we even knew about Eutopolis. Mine came because the girls were teasing me.” She gently petted Tomoko’s head. “Don’t worry too much, okay?”

“Momota-san…” Tomoko looked at her before seeing the gentle kindness in her eyes. She gave a small nod. “O-okay…”

Kanako smiled before pulling away. “Let’s go. My house is farther down from yours so we can walk together. That will be fine, right?”

“S-sure…”

~~

“So Reni was teaching you how to read kanji?” Kanako asked as the two walked home.

“Yes… She really helped me with some of the basics… I just hope I can catch up as soon as possible,” Tomoko said as she fixed one of the straps on her bag.

“Heh…”

The two continued walking before Kanako remembered something. “Ah. That reminds me. How did you and Hamasaki-san managed to move into that house? You just got to this time about a month ago, didn’t you?”

“Y-yes… But Ryo-san managed to learn how everything worked in this world the second day and found ways for us to live before we managed to get the house. I’m not sure how to describe it, though…”

“Ah… So he used Magic to blend into society… I see…” _“Kind of cheating… But I can’t say anything since she’s still learning basic Japanese… Money would be the least of her worries…”_

A small ringing came to her ears before her eyes glowed. She stopped, making Tomoko stop as well. “Is something wrong?” the girl asked, seeing the confused look on Kanako’s face.

The redhead looked around. “You don’t hear it?”

“Hear what…?”

Kanako’s eyes glowed brighter before she turned. She gasped. “Watch out!” She took hold of the small girl before tackling her to the ground, only to have a large beam of black energy fly over them. She heard a large explosion and looked up, only to find a house destroyed. “What the…?” She looked back at Tomoko to find her unconscious as there was a small blood trail on her head. “Hamasaki-san!” She sat up and shook her. “Hey, wake up! Come on! You okay?”

~~

Aarin stopped as her left hand went to her ear and she winced. “Aarin? You okay?” Shiorin asked. Her foot shifted as she turned. “What…?”

The two heard the explosion before finding smoke. “That’s Kanako’s route home,” Aarin said worriedly. Her phone rang as she answered. “Reni?”

 _“Aarin! Something happened to Kanako!”_ the older girl cried. Aarin soon noticed her breathing was heavy as if she was running. _“Momoka and I are on our way there!”_

“Reni? Wait! Reni! It might be too dangerous!”

Shiorin took hold of her phone before hanging up. “We have to go, too! This is Kanako we’re talking about!” She took hold of Aarin’s wrist before they ran.


	4. Our Old Identities

Kanako looked around in panic before she heard footsteps. She looked behind her to find a strange monster at the next intersection.

It seems to have been a type of dragon that stood upright on its hind legs like a human. It had sharp, blood red scales, and dark eyes. Horns protruded from his head and his claws were visible from his hands and feet. It wore what seemed to have been medieval armor in black trimmed with white paint as well as strange markings in red. Hanging from its belt was a sword with a large black blade that was rather large at the tip similar to that of a pirate’s.

“What the…?” She tightly held onto Tomoko, seeing how the monster is most likely dangerous.

“Hoh… Quite impressive without your powers, Fire Mage,” the monster mused. “Even being able to avoid such an attack.”

“What are you?!” Kanako questioned as she stood up.

The monster smirked before slowly walking towards the two. “Surprising you don’t remember. Well. Probably a side effect from being reborn into this time. But I will tell you as a reminder. My name is Dorgon. Leader of what you may call the Dark Syndicate. But enough small talk.” His eyes glowed. “Hand over the Princess and the Crown.”

Kanako soon realized he was talking about Tomoko and looked at the small girl before back at the monster. Her eyes glowed as she glared at him. “I won’t let you have her. I might not want to get too involved but there’s no way I can let someone like her be put into danger.”

Dorgon stopped. “Then I guess you leave me no choice.” He took out his sword as dark energy surrounded it.

Kanako quickly knelt and pulled Tomoko close as Dorgon swung his sword, releasing a large crescent of energy at the two.

**_“KANAKO!”_ **

Four figures landed in front of the two before a large frying pan appeared, deflecting the attack into the air before both disappeared. A sword with a jagged blade was soon thrown at Dorgon, making him dodge.

“Hm?” He looked at the four to be the rest of the idols. He smirked. “That’s an interesting development.”

Shiorin and Reni looked at their hands in shock before looking at each other. “Was that…?” Shiorin murmured.

“I don’t know…”

Aarin’s ears soon perked before she found another attack. “Watch out!”

Momoka quickly grabbed them before large vines sprung from the ground to create a shield. She looked back. “Eh?” She looked at them. “Was that… me?”

“Duck!” a voice shouted. The girls quickly got down before fireballs came from the sky, knocking Dorgon away from them as the vines disappeared. Ryo landed between the two sides, his nose flaring as his silver eyes glowed.

“Ryo!”

He looked back at them. “Looks like you girls are okay.” He looked back at Dorgon. “Looks like you have the guts to show your face today, Dorgon. Leave these girls alone. They’re under my watch, especially the Crown.”

“Hmph.” Dorgon sheathed his sword. “Looks like you really are alive. Surprising to see the house pet still alive and well. But at least I got some information from today. But just know that the next time you see me, the chances of getting my hands on the Crown will be much higher.” Dark smoke spiraled around him before he disappeared.

“Tch. House pet.” He looked back at the five girls before hearing sirens. “Police…” He rushed over to the girls and noticed they were weak as they collapsed except for Kanako. “We have to hurry.” He wrapped his wings around them before the group disappeared.

~~

Kanako found herself in the Hamasaki household as well as the others who seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion. “Girls?!” She rushed over to Shiorin who was sweating as her breathing was heavy. “Tamai! You okay?! Tamai!” She went to Reni who was also in the same condition. “Reni! Reni!”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she quickly pulled away, only to be Ryo in his human form. “S-sorry… I just- I-!” She was stopped by the dragon.

“Just relax. They just need some rest after using their Magic.” He went over to Tomoko as his hand glowed, making the small girl’s head wound disappear. He picked her up before placing her on the couch. He went over to the four girls as he did the same, making them calm down before weakly looking up at the two.

“Kanako… What was that…?” Shiorin asked, her breathing still heavy.

“You should tell me. And you guys just collapsed without warning.”

“It’s best if you girls can sit down and rest a little,” Ryo said. “I will bring some snacks for you as well.”

~

Kanako let out a relieved sigh when she saw her friends becoming a little more energetic after drinking some juice and eating some crackers. “You girls okay?” she asked.

“Feeling better…” Momoka said after swallowing her bite. Her hand went to her head. “But… what happened…?”

“Magical Outbursts,” Ryo said as he placed another tray of snacks on the coffee table before taking a seat. “Something that seldom appears to protect its users without causing harm to others.”

“Magical Outbursts? What are those?” Reni asked.

“When it comes to Magic, it is very easy to control, especially at a young age when Mages begin to develop their Magic. Of course, there are still some difficulties in the first few years but are stable for the remaining years of a Mage’s life. But the Royal Guards are different. They possess what we call Unstable Magic. Magic that possesses their own free will and is much more powerful than those possessed by normal Mages due to their ties to the Crown. Because of them possessing their own will, they tend to activate on their own to protect the Mage without the Mage knowing. We call them Magical Outbursts because of it. But usually they are very dangerous for others because it usually ends with people surrounding them to become injured.”

“Then why did we run out of energy so quickly?”

“Your bodies aren’t used to Magic so it causes great strain until you can properly control it. Outbursts even takes more energy than usual in some cases. You just don’t notice it in your past lives due to your body being created to endure such strain and regulate magical output. You are just normal humans in this life so your body needs time to adapt.”

“But I didn’t use any Magic,” Aarin said,” Only Shiorin, Reni and Momoka fought that monster.”

“Your Magic is a little more special as it is connected to air, making you more sensitive to sounds and change in air pressure. You must have felt it when you heard a disturbance.”

Aarin thought for a moment. “So… that moment before the explosion occurred…”

“That would most likely be it. Including being able to hear the enemy attacking again. But it is not your fault for such energy depletion. Your Magic only activated themselves to protect you and Hime.”

“But what does it mean? Are we really awakening our powers if this is happening?” Kanako asked, receiving a nod.

“I’m not exactly sure but it’s highly possible you girls won’t be able to avoid this anymore. The five of you possess powerful Magic that can be targeted by the enemy. It will be too difficult to avoid and you won’t be able to defend yourselves if you choose not to fight.”

“So what should we do?”

“For now, we have to find ways on helping you regulate the use of Magic as fast as possible. You all have pretty good stamina judging by your jobs but your body probably won’t be able to take the toll Magic has on your bodies. That’s why it’s better to train.”

“More training…” Reni muttered with a pout.

They all soon head something and looked over to find Tomoko turning in her sleep. “Hime.” Ryo went to her side and noticed the pained expression on her face. “Hime?”

“No… I don’t want to go… Please…” she whimpered as she continued turning.

“She’s remembering the war… Hime! Wake up! Hime!”

Tomoko’s eye snapped opened as they glowed orange before turning back to their usual grey. “Eh…?” She looked around. “I… I…?” She soon spotted Ryo. “Ryo-san…?” She slowly got up. “Are you really Ryo-san…?”

Ryo gave a nod as he went to a kneeling position. “It’s me, Hime. We’re safe.”

Tears started to form in her eyes before she pulled him into a hug. “Ryo-san… The others… Kimi-neechan… Ran-neechan… Mina-neechan… Sheru-nee… Aira-neechan… They’re okay, right…? They’re okay, right…?” she sobbed.

“They’re fine, Hime. I promise.” _“Looks like the attack forced her to remember…”_ He gently pulled away before giving her his handkerchief. “Here. Wipe your face. There are some people you have to meet.”

“Eh?” Tomoko looked over at the others before her eyes started to turn from grey to red to purple to green to yellow to pink, and then back to grey. “Minna-san… Are you really them…?” she whimpered as more tears started to form.

Kanako carefully went to her. “Everyone…? You mean the Royal Guards? Ryo told us it’s us.”

Tomoko looked at her as tears fell. “Kimi-neechan… Kimi-neechan!” She pulled Kanako into a hug as she cried. “Please… please don’t leave me again… Please don’t do something like that again…”

“T-Tomoko…” Kanako looked at the girl before gently petting her head. “Th-there there… Shh… No need to cry so much…” she said, confused on how to calm her.

~

Tomoko wiped away her tears as they all settled down and the five managed to tell their parents about them being late. Ryo knelt down in front of the small girl.

“Hime. Are you okay now?”

Tomoko gave a small nod. “I’m sorry… Making you worried like that…”

“It’s fine. As long as you’re okay.”

“O-okay…”

Ryo let out a sigh. “Hime. This will be a lot of information but please tell me. Do you remember anything that has happened after we arrived here? Coming to the city. Going to school. Anything?”

Tomoko looked at the dragon, her eyes turning green as she thought. “Ryo-san… How long was I out…?”

“You suffered from amnesia for over a month now.” He reached into his pocket to take out what seems to be a receipt. “Read this.”

Tomoko took hold of it before looking at the lettering. “K-katsu don… What is that…? But why is the writing different?”

Ryo scratched his head. “Looks like I have a lot of explaining to do…”

~

“So I went to school and met Aira-neechan and the others and they’re starting to remember everything?” Tomoko asked, receiving a nod.

“You were attacked today by the Dark Syndicate. Some of them managed to awaken some of their Magic to protect you but the attack led to you regaining your own memories,” Ryo said.

“I see… But… Why…? Why are they regaining their memories? Why are they using their Magic?”

“Apparently, us being here caused them to recover their memories before they even knew who we truly were. They summoned Magical Outbursts when they were protecting you earlier.”

“But why now? Couldn’t we have just left them alone?”

“Hime…”

“They died right when we left, Ryo-san… If that happened back in Eutopolis… Somewhere where there were people strong and brave enough to fight Unknowns… They’ll die before they can let us escape this place… So why couldn’t we have left them alone…?” Tears started to fall again as she looked at the dragon. “I can’t lose them again… Especially now when they don’t know anything about Magic…”

“Hime…” He bowed his head. “I must apologize but I had no choice… They started to recover their memories before we knew it. You know that once that starts, there’s no turning back from the process of them awakening their Magic. I had no choice.”

“But… but…!” Tomoko stopped when a hand rested on her head. She turned to find Reni who softly smiled at her. “Ran-neechan…”

Reni smiled and gently petted the girl’s head. “It’s okay, Tomoko. Some of us were actually curious and it couldn’t be helped since we started to remember. But I’m sorry. I promised to you that we would try to not remember anything when you had amnesia but they came naturally. But don’t you worry. We will do our best to keep ourselves and each other safe. That’s what friends are for.”

“Ran-neechan…”

Reni couldn’t help but to let out a short laugh. “You always say that. My name is Reni. Reni Takagi. I’m in my third and final year of high school. Kimi-neechan is Kanako Momota. Mina-neechan is Momoka Ariyasu. Those two are in their second year. Sheru-nee is Shiori Tamai. She’s in her first year. And then Aira-neechan is Ayaka Sasaki. She’s in her third year of middle school and is in your class. Call us by those names, okay?”

“But…”

“It’ll be fine. It just takes time to get used to. I promise.” She held out her pinky as Tomoko looked at it.

_“It’s a pinky promise, Ran-neechan!”_

_“Okay, okay. I solemnly swear that I will keep this promise or I will cut off my pinky.”_

The two looked at each other from the memory before Reni smiled. “I won’t cut off my pinky but I solemnly swear to keep this promise.”

Tears started to form before Tomoko crossed her pinky with the older girl’s. “Please keep it…”

“I will.”

~~

“Hey, Reni… How did you know which name belonged to us?” Shiorin asked as the five walked home after Tomoko decided to rest.

“Hmm… Just a hunch. She called Kanako ‘Kimi-neechan’ and called me ‘Ran-neechan’. The others actually made sense. Aira for A-chan. Sheru for Tama-san. As for Mina and Momoka… Nn… It starts with an ‘M’!”

“That’s too simple!” Momoka cried, making the group laugh.

“Well… Looks like we really can’t avoid it…” Kanako sighed before taking out her pendant. “We recovered too many memories to avoid it now… Even to the extent of using Magic.”

The four took out their pendants as well to look at them. “Guess we have to start training,” Shiorin sighed. “Good thing we’re not that busy for the next few months.”

“Yep… Can’t get staff involved… Family, too.”

They all gave a nod as they continued walking.

~~

Tomoko looked out the window worriedly as Ryo was making dinner. “Something bothering you, Hime?”

Tomoko looked besfore for looking at the dragon. “Ryo-san… I only saw five… We’re missing one… Aya-neechan is missing…”

Ryo stopped cutting the carrot, realizing his Princess caught on. Tomoko soon took notice.

“Ryo-san… Where is Aya-neechan…?”

The dragon took in a deep breath before continuing to cook. “I don’t know where she is, Hime. I haven’t seen anyone that looked like her ever since we arrive.”

“So… is she…?”

“Dead? That is unlikely. If Kimiko and the others were reborn at the same time with the same age range, there’s no doubt in my mind she was reborn as well. We just don’t know where she is. But think about it this way. If she doesn’t appear, she’s most likely safe and out of harm’s way compared to the five of them. We won’t have a need to bother her.”

Tomoko hesitated before giving a nod. “I see… But are you sure it’s okay…? Letting them fight…? They’re just humans right now… They can’t handle Magic as perfect as their past selves…”

“That’s true but they can train their bodies to handle the amount of Magic that must be used. And we don’t know how this handicap will affect their true powers when they awaken them. We just have to put our faith in them. Okay?”

“O-okay…”


	5. Seeking Answers

_“If Hime is having nightmares that is affecting the Grand Shrine, it’s more than likely we’ll have to go to war. Which means we have to use the east tower…”_

_“Wait a minute! We can’t just abandon Hime!”_

_“We’re not going to! But if the east tower is our only means of escape, we have to send Hime through it. It takes at least five Mages to seal it so we have to send her and hopefully her parents. It’s the only way.”_

_“But Kimiko!”_

_“But nothing! It’s the only way we can protect her!”_

Kanako’s eyes snapped open as she panted, her eyes glowing in reaction to the sudden dream. Her hand went to her head before she sat up. “Another memory…?” she murmured to herself. She looked over at the clock and noticed the time was still three in the morning. _“Why am I having dreams at this hour…?”_

~~

Kanako let out a yawn as she walked to school. “Mou… I couldn’t sleep after that dream…” she moaned. She soon found the others ahead, only to be tired and misshapen as well. “Hm?”

She ran over to them before tapping Shiorin’s back, only to be smacked by a wooden spoon. “Ah! Kanako!”

“Ow… Since when did you carry wooden spoons with you…?”

Shiorin looked at her hand to find the spoon. “Ah… There goes my muffin…” she whined before reaching into her bag to grab a protein bar. “Those darn outbursts…”

“Ah… So it was that…” She looked at the others. “You guys okay? Yesterday was hard on you.”

“We’re fine. Luckily those outbursts didn’t happen after that,” Reni said with a yawn. “We just couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

“Let me guess… Another dream about Eutopolis?”

“Looks like we all did get it,” Momoka sighed before the five continued to walk. “This is getting out of hand…”

“Maybe we should ask Hamasaki-san about the situation a little more,” Aarin suggested. “She does remember everything now so she might be able to tell us a little more about Eutopolis.”

“Are you sure? She was really against us being involved yesterday.”

“I know but what else can we do? We’re recovering memories of a past life we ever knew about until now with no control over it. Not to mention finding out we do have powers that are taking a toll on us when we use them even if by accident.”

“Wait a minute. Only the four of you used your powers. I didn’t,” Kanako said,” It’s too weird.”

“It might appear later,” Shiorin said,” But at least you still had energy that time. We felt terrible after using Magic to protect you, Leader.”

Kanako pouted at this.

“Well Tomoko does recognize us as the Guards Ryo was talking about,” Reni said,” Even calling us by our old names. Maybe we can ask about that. What we were like in the past and how close we were to her.”

The four looked at their older friend, seeing how it might be the safest way to go when asking about the past.

~~

Aarin looked over at Tomoko when the bell rang for lunch. _“Wonder if I should approach her now… She’s been avoiding me the whole time…”_ She saw the girl getting up to leave the room with her lunch. “Ah.” She chased after her. “T-Tomoko-chan!” she called when the two reached the hallway

Tomoko stopped as she tightly held onto her lunch. She turned towards the taller girl. “Y-yes…?”

Aarin tightly pursed her lips, seeing how it’s finally time to talk to her. “We want to talk to you. Just go to lunch with me. No one will bother us.”

The small girl hesitated, her eyes turning a dark blue as she looked away. “I’m sorry… I can’t have lunch with you today…” She started to walk away.

Aarin ran after her before grabbing her wrist. “We know you don’t want us involved. But please. This is important to us Tomoko-chan… It’s really important… Hime…”

Tomoko stopped as tears formed in her eyes when the girl called her by her title. She looked at the idol. “Don’t call me ‘Hime’… and then I’ll go…”

Aarin looked at her before giving a nod.

~

Tomoko closed her lunch box after finishing. “So what did you all want to talk about…?” she asked as she looked at the five. The girls looked at her, seeing it’s her first time to speak ever since lunch started.

“T-Tomoko. Will it be okay if you can tell us about our past?” Reni asked. “We want to know a little more about it since we’re recovering our memories.”

Tomoko tightly held onto her lunch box. “Why do you want to know so much…?”

“Please, Tomoko. We just want to know. We don’t know if we’ve kept any secrets from you in the past but please. We keep recovering bits and pieces of our past and we don’t know what to make of it.”

Tomoko looked away. “F-fine…”

They all looked at her before giving a small sigh in relief.

Tomoko reached for her moonstone pendant before flipping it over, only to have some writing on it. “The five of you were the 88th generation Royal Guards. Ryo-san told me you were recruited a few months before I was born and were still teenagers at the time. Probably younger than you are now. You all raised and train me as I grew up, even being in charge of my lessons from basic school work to Magic and fighting.

“Ran-neechan was named Ran Igarashi. A Dark Mage that also controlled Lightning Magic. She was the oldest and looked out for me the most. She was kind and always wanted what was best for me. But she used to be sillier until I had to start training my Magic…Trying to be more serious than usual around me.

“Kimi-neechan was named Kimiko Momorin. A Fire Mage who was born half-elf. She was the leader of the team and the one who made sure I was training and doing necessary work for my own sake. She was considered the strongest warrior as she never lost against the others. But she tends to make more mistakes than I do when writing reports for my parents.

“Mina-neechan was named Minami Hara. A Plant Mage who later gained wings and super strength. She was the smallest but the toughest, even being able to easily defeat soldiers who continuously harass her for her size being unable to properly serve as a Guard. She was the one in charge of my melee training but always panics when she sees me in trouble or when the others are playing games with her. She once threw a training dummy at them after they scared her, too. But she was the most sincere as she never raised her voice against others unless it was to protect everyone.

“Sheru-neechan was named Sheru Kawazoe. An Earth Mage with a special ability called Food Alchemy which allows her to turn any food she eats into items or weapons of her choice. She was considered second-in-command behind Kimi-neechan to make sure everyone was doing their jobs. But she was pretty childish despite her role. Always whining to Kimi-neechan and always eating too much… But she always meant well since she helps everyone with their lesson plans to make sure everything runs smoothly when Kimi-neechan is busy.

“Aira-neechan was named Aira Ono. A Wind Mage that was also born a Light Mage despite her lineage. She was the youngest but the most mature after being raised in the upper class. She was often the one in charge of my Magic lessons as well as my studies with Sheru-neechan. She even watches me when Ran-neechan was busy. She was always kind but sometimes strict with everyone, especially when they fool around too much. But she always meant well since she does look up to them being the oldest.”

Tomoko looked down as she tightly held onto her lunch box. “The five of them were always together, even during days when I’m put into my parents and Ryo-san’s care so they can spend some time to relax or train. But I always have a feeling there’s something more to them that they won’t tell me yet… All I want is to help them and not want to be protected all the time so they wouldn’t sacrifice their lives so easily…” Tears started to form in her eyes. “But… that day… I didn’t even know what was going on and found myself alone with Ryo-san without them… I don’t know why they were willing to give me up so easily… I don’t know why they couldn’t have let me stay by their side until the end… I just don’t know…”

The five looked at her, seeing how much she cared for their past selves. Reni gently held out her hand before petting the small girl’s head in comfort. Tomoko looked at her, tears streaming down her cheeks. The older girl gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Tomoko. I’m sure there’s a perfect reason for them to have you escape to this time rather than die with them. But just know that if you ever need anyone, you still have us. We might not be like our past selves but we’ll still help you as a friend.”

“Ran-neechan…” Tomoko pulled her into a hug before crying in her arms. “Please… Please don’t do that again… Don’t leave me alone again… I don’t want that…”

Reni held her in her arms. “We won’t. We promise.” She looked over at the others who were also worried about the young girl.

~

Aarin held out a lollipop as the two walked back to class. “Here. For the trouble we gave you,” she said.

Tomoko looked at it before accepting. She couldn’t help but to smile. “You do it even in this life…” she said softly.  “Making me cheer up with sweets…”

“Eh? Should I not?”

The Princess shook her head. “It’s fine. But I have to be the one to apologize… With me being here… everyone will be in danger… and you can’t fight that well in this life…”

“Tomoko-chan…” Aarin took hold of her hand. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. As long as the five of us are with you, it’ll be okay. Understand?”

“Aira-neechan…”

“Call me ‘Aarin’. I’m calling you by your name so try to call me by mine. The others, too.”

Tomoko looked at the other girl, her eyes turning a light pink. “I-I’m sorry… It’s just a bad habit… But I’ll try… A-Aarin-san…”

Aarin softly smiled and petted her head. “It’ll take time to get used to but don’t worry so much, okay?”

“O-okay…”

~~

Tomoko carefully fixed the back of her black loafers as she changed her shoes to leave. She closed her locker before reaching into her bag to take out her white flip-phone. _“I wonder if I should call Ryo-san to pick me up…”_

Her eyes glowed violet as she turned, only to find a strange shadow move on the ground near the lockers. She tensed as she tightly held onto the phone, her eyes turning orange. She started to slowly follow it, seeing how there wasn’t anyone nearby. She followed it to the empty soccer field before it stopped, making her jump.

It seemed to have looked around before emerging from the ground as a strange monster that looked semi-human with clawed hands and sharp glowing red eyes. It didn’t take a specific form for the rest of the body as it was made of dark energy.

Tomoko’s eyes glowed as she shook in her spot. _“U-Unknowns…”_ Flashes came to her of the war as she tightly held onto the phone. She soon noticed it approaching her slowly. _“I-I can’t move… Ryo-san… Kimi-neechan… everyone… help… HELP ME!”_

~

Kanako’s eyes glowed as she stopped in her tracks and turned. “Tomoko…”

“You okay, Kanako?” Shiorin asked, only for her foot to shift. “That feeling again…”

Reni and Aarin’s hands went to their heads as the two winced. “What the… This is just as bad as the monster from before…” the former muttered.

“Tomoko’s in danger!” Kanako shouted. “Come on!”

The five ran back to the school, hoping they can make it in time.

~

Tomoko coward in her spot as the Unknown crept closer to her. She backed into a wall, tears forming in her eyes. _“Kimi-neechan… Ran-neechan… Mina-neechan… Sheru-neechan… Aira-neechan… help…”_

A blast of blue fire appeared, knocking the Unknown away from the girl. She turned to find Ryo in his dragon form. “Ryo-san…” Tomoko collapsed to her knees as he quickly went to her side.

“You okay, Hime?” he asked.

“I’m fine…” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held onto the dragon. “Ryo-san…”

Ryo’s eyes lowered, seeing how the girl was still scared from the war. His eyes glowed as he turned, only to find more Unknowns emerge from the ground. “More of them…?” _“It can’t be…”_ He looked back at his princess. _“Are they reacting to her emotions…?”_ He shook his head. _“I still have to keep them away from her._ ”

“Hime. Stay here.” His eyes glowed as a scythe with a light blue staff appeared. He placed it in her hands. “Keep this with you. Remember your training, okay? It will keep you safe as long as you focus. I’ll hold them off for now.” He turned to face the Unknowns before he grew to a size no larger than a bus. “Stay here.” He charged at the Unknowns, breathing blue flames before knocking some away with his tail.

Tomoko tightly held onto the side. _“I can’t… I just can’t… They took away everyone… How can I face them if they took away the others…?”_ Tears streamed down her cheeks. _“I’m not a Princess… I can’t even fight…”_

Messy footsteps were heard as the girls arrived at the scene, only to find Ryo fending off the monsters as Tomoko was on the side defenseless. “Tomoko!” Kanako called as they started to run over to her.

Tomoko turned at the call to find the five. “Kimi-neechan…”

Aarin soon spotted an Unknown escaping and charging at her. “Tomoko-chan! In front of you!” she cried.

Tomoko looked to find the Unknowns charging at her with its claws stretched out towards her. Her eyes glowed orange before she screamed.

The five quickly dove towards her. **“HIME!”** they screamed.


	6. Awakening What was Lost

Tomoko looked to find the Unknowns charging at her with its claws stretched out towards her. Her eyes glowed orange before she screamed.

The five quickly dove towards her. **“HIME!”** they screamed.

Bright glows soon came from the five as a large pulse came from them, destroying the Unknowns before it could reach the small girl. They landed on their feet as their pendants floated out of their pockets. They took hold of them.

_“Hime! Time for training!”_

_“Don’t learn risky spells too early!”_

_“Make sure to eat your vegetables first or no desserts tonight.”_

_“To think you’d get your crying habits from me… What will we do with you…?”_

_“Any game you want to play, Hime? Or do you want a head start on today’s lessons?”_

The girls’ eyes glowed as they looked at the pendants. “More memories…” Momoka murmured.

“That’s right… We took care of Hime…” Reni murmured,” We raised her… Swearing on an oath to protect her…”

_“Do you girls promise to protect the Heir even at the cost of your life?”_

_“Yes! We will do our best to serve and protect Hime. No matter the consequences, we will act as her shield. Even if it’s against ourselves.”_

“Hime…” They looked at the Unknowns that started to charge at them.

“Never mind the drawbacks of using Magic,” Kanako said. “Our sole mission is to protect Hime! Girls!”

They all held out their pendants as their eyes glowed. **_“Henshin! Magus Mode!”_ ** Bright light surrounded them, making the Unknowns fall back as they hissed at the light.

Kanako's crimson hair turned into a fiery orange with red tips, and her ears elongated to look like an elf’s as her uniform was replaced by a white strapless leotard. She swiped her hand over the bottom to create a pair of white shorts with a black belt. Black fingerless gloves appeared on her hands as black boots appeared when she tapped her legs together. Fire surrounded her as a thin vest appeared as the bottom reached down to her knees and was clasped at the collar with her pendant that grew to the size of a broach. A stream of red flames appeared as she took hold of it to create a sword with a red blade and the handle designed to look like flames.

Shiorin's hair turned a light brown color as her uniform turned into a sleeveless white leotard. Rocks appeared and clung onto her bottom as they formed a pair of gold-yellow shorts. White sneakers covered her feet as white cuff-like bracelets appeared on her wrists. Silver spoons then surrounded her to form a thin yellow vest and a floral clip appeared in her hair with her pendant at the center. A small capsule popped out of her left bracelet as she ate it before an oversized frying pan appeared in her hands.

Aarin's hair turned into a lighter shade as her uniform turned into a strapless white leotard. Pink hearts floated around as they formed her magenta skirt with a white petticoat underneath. Pink boots covered the lower half of her legs and feet as white frilled gloves covered her hands. She twirled around before she was given a red-orange sailor collar that was connected to her leotard with a pinkish-red bow, the collar extending down to her lower back like a cape. A pink choker appeared around her neck with a heart clip as well as a black headband. Her pendant appeared at the center of the bow to match the heart-shaped buckle on her white belt. Pink ribbons and hearts appeared in her right hand to create a sugar pink rod with a red heart on top surrounded by a white ring.

Momoka's hair turned black as she was given a sleeveless green-black unitard that reached down to her knees. It was then covered by a green skirt with a hidden underskirt. Vines soon clung onto her hands and feet to form white sneakers and green rubber bracelets. The vines reappeared to form a white and green striped shirt with a wide neckline so one side would slide off her shoulder, only to have vine-wrapped, tree-like wings with white petal-shaped feathers spring out from her unitard. Her hair was then pulled up to the side with her pendant attached to her hairtie. Leaves surrounded her hands as her bracelets turned into metallic gloves with green clovers bejeweled onto them.

Reni's hair turned into a light lavender color as her uniform turned into a sleeveless light purple yukata with the skirt cut short with black shorts underneath that stopped just above her knees. Black ribbons wrapped around her waist to form a black and violet obi, the stripes jagged to resemble lightning bolts. Lightning surrounded her to form a dark purple to almost black cloak clasped with her pendant. In her hair was a braid clasped by lightning bolt-shaped clips. Ribbons formed around her legs to form black boots. A lightning bolt appeared as she took hold of it to create a sword with a jagged blade that resembled a lightning bolt.

Tomoko looked at them in shock, recognizing the uniforms the five wore. _“They transformed… Why…? They shouldn’t have…?”_

Kanako turned to her before softly smiling. “Sorry for the shock.” She gently petted the girl’s head. “We’ll take care of it.” She turned back to the Unknowns as she smirked. “It’s been a while but why don’t we have a bit of fun?”

The remaining four looked at each other before smiling. They readied their weapons. “Go!”

Momoka’s eyes glowed as she spread her wings and took off into the air. She stopped above the center of the swarm before diving down. Her gloves glowed before she punched the ground, making it shake before giving out under the Unknowns, making them lose their balance.

Aarin held out her wand as large bubbles of pink energy came from it, trapping the Unknowns. “Ran! Kimiko!”

“Got it!” The two jumped into the air before landing on Shiorin’s frying pan. The Earth Mage’s eyes glowed as a pillar emerged from the ground as she swung back.

“IKKE!” Rocks shot from the pillar, hitting the pan as she swung forward, launching the two towards the swarm.

They swung their swords, destroying a few of them before kicking each other’s feet, launching them to the sides, destroying a few more before landing. They kicked themselves off the ground before destroying the rest, leaving no more Unknowns when they met in front of Ryo who finished off a few on his side.

“Yo! Sorry for the wait, Ryo!” Kanako said with a grin.

“To think you girls would awaken your powers already.”

“Don’t be like that~” Reni teased. “Watch Hime, okay?”

“Okay, okay.”

The five changed back into their school uniforms before collapsing to their hands and knees, out of breath from the battle. “That was rough…” Shiorin sighed as she leaned back.

“Sh-Sheru-neechan! Aira-neechan!” Tomoko rushed over to the two since they were the closest to her. Tears continued to fall as she held onto Aarin. “Why…? Why did you transform…?”

Aarin softly smiled. “We just want to protect you, Hime. We swore an oath to protect you and we can’t break it.”

Tomoko started to cry as she hugged the Wind Mage. “Don’t call me ‘Hime’…”

“Well don’t call us by our old names, either,” Shiorin teased, gently petting the girl’s head.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

“What the heck are you apologizing for? _That’s_ your bad habit.” The two softly laughed as they comforted their princess.

~~

Dorgon watched the scene from within a large cave. He smirked. “So they really have awakened their Magic. This will be a very interesting battle for the Crown.” He took a seat on his stone throne. “I guess it’s time to play my own piece once it’s done with its job.”

~~

“Ah~ Sorry for making you fix the field and bringing us here, Ryo,” Kanako said as they were all at the Hamasaki household. “But thanks for the cookies~”

“You girls should really show some restraint,” the dragon chided as he placed a tray of tea on the coffee table. “This isn’t like Eutopolis where Earth Mages can easily repair of the damaged area. Good thing everyone already left by the time you girls fought.”

“Come on, Ryo~ You know you miss us fighting~ Especially now when you were the only one before we came back~” She was soon flicked on the forehead. “Ow!”

“Enough with the jokes. But this is important, especially since you girls have recovered your memories and being able to enter your Magus forms this early.”

“Well… We haven’t recovered all of our memories…” Reni said sheepishly,” Just the ones where we spent time with Tomoko and a bit of training. Other than that, we don’t remember anything else.”

“But you all still retain some habits and tendencies,” Tomoko said as she bit into a cookie. “Even teasing Ryo-san.” She was soon hit by a small spoon. “Ow!” Her free hand went to her forehead.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Shiorin chided as the spoon returned to her hand. She looked at it. “Hm… Looks like some of our Magical sustainability came back. Sorry if it was a little too rough.” She froze when she found tears in the princess’s eyes. “A-ah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to throw it to hard!” she cried, trying to comfort the girl.

“It hurts more than the wooden ones…” Tomoko whimpered.

“Sorry… Here. Have another cookie. I won’t hit you, okay?”

“O-okay…”

“Tamai was just as harsh as she is now…” Kanako muttered in disbelief,” Even to Hime…”

“I said I was sorry! I’m pretty sure I never threw a metal spoon at her! It was by accident!” She was soon hit by Ryo.

“Calm down, already,” he chided, making the five cower from his angered look. They all went back to their seats before he cleared his throat. “As we can see, you girls have managed to awaken your Magus Forms, one that allows you to use your Magic to their full potential. But your bodies still need time to adjust to it as it can be tiring for humans. But hopefully you girls can get used to fighting without stressing yourselves. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We just have to take care of Dorgon, right? It’ll be a piece of cake after we train for a few weeks,” Kanako said. “Fighting Unknowns make it better.”

“Just make sure you girls aren’t using your Magic too recklessly. You’ll end up collapsed on the streets like when you first used it.”

“We know, we know.” Kanako soon found her ears pulled by Shiorin. “What are you doing?”

“Your ears are pointed but not as long as they used to be,” the Earth Mage pouted,” Guess your inner elf only comes out when you transform.”

“Oi.”

“In any case, it’s best if you all rest,” Tomoko chided,” You might not be able to use Magic for a few hours after that fight. Just leave the Unknowns to Ryo-san for now.”

“But what about you, Tomoko? They’re after you, aren’t they?” Momoka asked.

Tomoko stopped as she looked away. She took hold of her pendant. “I’m not strong enough… I never saw Unknowns until the war… I’m not ready to fight them just yet… They just bring back bad memories of the war…”

“Tomoko…”

“Tomoko-chan. Did the war scare you that much?” Aarin asked.

“Yeah… It just happened so suddenly… So many people were dying… We even became separated from my parents on our way to the East Tower… The Dark Syndicate made me separated from everyone… You all died because of them… I don’t want that anymore…”

Aarin gently petted her head. “I’m sure it’s fine to be scared. We’re actually kind of scared, too. We didn’t know what was going on until we regained our memories of the past. But I’m sure you’ll help us when we need it. It just takes a little courage. Trust me, okay?”

“Aarin-san… But I’m too weak to fight… I won’t be able to help you like back then…”

“That’s perfectly fine. But we trained you the past, didn’t we? Surely you’ll get the courage to fight someday. Just leave the battles to the five of us and Ryo for now. Okay?”

Tears streamed down the young princess’s cheeks before she gave a shaky nod. “Okay…”

~~

Kanako stretched as the five walked home. “Ah… Guess I have to stretch some more when I get home…” she sighed. “You guys feeling okay?”

“We just needed some food,” Reni said as she pumped her fists. “Those cookies and tea really helped. Well… hopefully Hime doesn’t eat too much. We spoiled her when it came to sweets.”

“She always ended up having three cookies for dessert from good behavior,” Momoka sighed. “I couldn’t catch up at all when baking.”

“Yea… Even worse when we sneak a few,” Shiorin grinned.

“Hey.”

“At least we remembered some fond memories,” Kanako said,” Hopefully they don’t get mixed up with memories from this life or everyone will be confused when we talk about it.”

“Also have to keep an eye on Hime now that Unknowns can find her,” Aarin said with a sigh. “We just have to be careful and make sure she’s safe when Ryo can’t watch her. Hopefully no one will get caught in our battles.”

“Yea…” Kanako looked down in worry, showing obvious concern for the ones around her with no memories of their previous life. _“Especially her… If she ever finds out, we don’t know what we’ll tell her…”_


	7. Day Off and Distant Memories

“He-choo!” Tomoko sneezed. She slightly sniffled as she wiped her nose with a tissue.

Ryo looked up from his breakfast. “Are you okay, Hime? You’ve been sneezing ever since you woke up.”

“I-I’m fi- he-choo!” A large gust came as Ryo held onto their plates to keep them still.

He stood up before resting a hand on her forehead. His eyes narrowed. “You’re not fine. You caught another cold. Only been three days since that Unknown attack and you already got a cold.” He brought her to her feet. “You need to rest. I’ll make something warm for you to eat.”

“But, Ryo-san… I have school… Everyone will be worried if I don’t go…” She sneezed again, only to have a lightning bolt shoot out from her hand before striking a vase, shattering it. “Ah! I’m sorry!”

Ryo sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You should really rest. It may not be as severe as your usual illness but a cold can cause Outbursts. Go change and get to bed.”

Tomoko hesitated, knowing he’s telling the truth. “Okay…”

The doorbell rang before the others came in. “’Morning!” Kanako greeted with a smile. “Tomoko. Let’s go to school and review.”

“Kanako-sa… sa… Ah-choo!” Tomoko sneezed again as a blast of fire was fired at them. Aarin’s eyes glowed before a pink barrier appeared, making the flames disappear on contact.

“Another cold, Tomoko-chan?” she asked.

“Sorry… It came so suddenly…” Tomoko murmured as she wiped her nose. “It’s too hot in here…”

“You want us to stay here to take care of you?” Reni asked.

“You girls better head to school,” Ryo said,” It’s better to conserve magical energy in case of emergencies and it’s possible you’ll catch the cold. Just leave it to me to take care of her for today.”

“Are you sure it’s okay, Ryo?” Momoka asked,” The ingredients in this time period is completely different than Eutopolis. Even Aarin can’t make potions without figuring out the equivalent but there are still a lot missing.”

“We’ve lived here for over a month now. Of course I know it’s different,” Ryo deadpanned. “I’m pretty sure I told you to not underestimate a dragon’s adaptation ability.”

“Yet you still lose to us in mock battles,” Kanako sneered with a smirk.

“You want to start a fight?”

“Depends on you, lizard.”

“Don’t… fight…” Tomoko said before feeling dizzy. Ryo quickly caught her before she could collapse onto the floor.

“Looks like it’s getting worse…” he muttered. He looked at the five. “Try to consider this your day off. Train or walk through the city if you want. Just do what you can to avoid catching the cold.”

The five pouted. “Just take good care of her,” Shiorin said,” We’ll send you some recipes on what to feed her.”

“Okay, okay. Now go on before she causes an earthquake.”

“Fine.”

~

“To think she would get sick already…” Reni sighed. “And to think her immune system should have gotten better…”

“Research says that the Crown can be overwhelming when the Heir starts to use it, causing a decrease in health in the first ten years or so,” Momoka said,” She’s turning fifteen soon. I don’t understand how she hasn’t improved at all since we taught her a basic spell at age four…”

“Maybe we spoiled her too much?”

“Probably just you,” Shiorin chided,” You spent the most time with her.”

“But I’m positive we didn’t spoil her this much,” Reni whined. “I did what I could to make her feel better.”

“Well it can’t be helped,” Kanako said, fixing the strap of her bag. “She might need some extra time to recover and she’s in a new environment different from Eutopolis.”

“True… Earth is different compared to how it was billions of years ago…” They looked out at the streets where they saw cars driving by and people walking with phones in their hands. “No doubt the two of them struggled with this change. And Hime’s still too young to understand it properly.”

“Yea…”

~~

Tomoko leafed through the history book she fetched from her school bag, her eyes gold in color.

“What are you reading today, Hime?” Ryo asked as he came in with a tray of food for the girl.

“I’m still figuring out the scripture but it’s a history book,” the princess said as she read some passages. “I guess the kingdom has been buried somewhere too deep for people to excavate… All they’ve found are remains of creatures similar to dragons.”

“Those are dinosaurs. I’m curious of them as well. We don’t know how intelligent they are and books depict them as ordinary animals; creatures that can communicate with those of the same species and protect themselves, but lack the intelligence to communicate with other species us dragons can do.” He took hold of a small spoon before using it to sprinkle chopped green onions over the porridge.

“Imagine what these scientists would think if they find out dragons are real,” Tomoko joked with a small giggle.

“They’ll treat me worse than how humans treat dragons back in Eutopolis. Although humans have returned with more intelligence, their behavior still remains the same.”

“I see…” She looked out the window. “I wonder how the others feel… Being raised differently than us and now adjusting to both sides of them.”

“Only they will know the answer and it’s best to be patient before finding out.” He handed her the bowl. “Just continue to rest so your cold will heal.”

Tomoko accepted the meal and looked at it. “Ryo-san… Will we ever see Aya-neechan again…?”

Ryo looked away. “It’s better if we don’t make any contact with her. Just for her sake.”

“Not even see her from afar? Kimi-neechan and the others will feel the same way if they remember her…”

“We were separated from her during the war, remember? It’s highly possible she was reunited with the others. But even if we do see her, we have to keep our distance so she won’t go through the same burden. Understand?”

“O-okay… I understand…”

~~

Kanako looked up at the sky as the team sat on the high school roof for lunch. “Today seems pretty clear…”

“Hm? What’s that all of a sudden?” Aarin asked, biting into her sandwich.

The Fire Mage looked back down at her food. “It’s nothing… It’s just… The day was like this on one of our days off, wasn’t it? The five of us resting under the clear sky.”

“We fell asleep on the training field that day,” Shiorin said,” We were supposed to train but it was the first time we had a day off in months so we just relaxed…”

“But we ended up going into the capital since we haven’t seen our families in so long,” Reni said with a solemn smile. “They always worried about us even though we changed a little after meeting each other. We were so hostile to each other until two months before Hime arrived.”

“But to think the day we met would be close to when MomoClo was formed,” Aarin said with a sigh. “The rules of reincarnations sure have a weird way of doing things. But who was it that suggested visiting our families?”

“It definitely wasn’t me. I remember being too sensitive in the sunlight to want to go into the capital.”

“I just wanted to sleep,” Shiorin said with a nod from Momoka who thought the same thing.

“Ayane suggested it…” Kanako murmured, making the four turned to her.

“Kanako?”

The leader blinked before looking at the five. “Hey… You remember it, right…? The final member than joined late due to lack of reports from the perimeter… We had a sixth… What was it…? Ayane Ha… Ha…” Her hand went to her head as Reni quickly grabbed her shoulder.

“Don’t push yourself. We’re still adjusting to the memories we got from protecting Hime.”

“But we have to remember… That sixth one… Just so we can make sure she’s safe… Ha… What was it…?”

“Ha…” Aarin’s eyes glowed. “Hayakawa? Ayane Hayakawa?”

“That’s it. Hayakawa. She was the one who was always in the back watching us,” Momoka said.

“Making sure we follow the schedule and telling us when to take a rest when we’re being stubborn,” Shiorin added.

“But she’s stubborn, too. Insisting her job is too different to be around us often,” Reni said,” But even she knows she wouldn’t be separate from us.”

“So where is she?” the four asked in unison.

Before anyone can think or answer, Aarin and Reni’s eyes glowed. They looked out into the city. “Unknowns?” Momoka asked.

“We don’t know. But it’s definitely similar to it,” Aarin said. “Reni and I will track it down.”

“I’m coming, too,” Kanako said. “My orders.”

“Just make sure to keep up,” Reni teased before the three took out their pendants.

**_“Henshin!”_ **

~

Tomoko’s eyes glowed as she looked out the window. “Kimi-neechan…?” She heard footsteps. “Ryo-san?” She got out of bed before making her way to the front door, only to find Ryo closing it to leave. “Ryo-san…” She tightly hand onto the handrails of the stairs, worried of what’s going to happen.

~

The three jumped from rooftop to rooftop, hoping to find the source of the reading. “Doesn’t look like there’s an Unknown attack,” Kanako muttered as she made another jump. “What’s causing you two to react…?”

Reni stopped as her eyes glowed. She turned. “This way!” she shouted before jumping over the streets and landing on the other side. Kanako and Aarin quickly followed. “This reading is too weird…”

Aarin’s ears perked as she found Ryo flying next to them. “Ryo!”

“Looks like you girls detected it as well,” the dragon said. “But this reading is off. Too different from the usual ones from Unknowns.”

“What the heck is going on…?” Kanako muttered.

Aarin’s eyes glowed. “Wait a minute…” She stopped, making the others follow. “Reni. You felt it, too, right?”

The Dark Mage gave a small nod. “An aura disappeared… I felt Dark Magic being used…” She continued on before jumping into an alley, only to find a body of a young man. The others landed next to her.

“What the heck…?” Kanako looked at the body in shock.

Reni looked away, her eyes giving out a pulsing glow. “He’s gone. So is the one who did it…” Her eyes glowed yellow before she made a high jump back into the building.

“Reni!” Aarin quickly followed her, recognizing the look in her eyes.

Ryo knelt down next to the man, his eyes glowing as he examined him. “Just as she said. The work of the Removal Spell.”

Kanako looked at him, her eyes glowing. “Eh? That can’t be. No one in the Dark Syndicate should be able to use that kind of spell. Not even Dorgon.”

“That’s the confusing part but it makes sense. He doesn’t have any form of injury or poisoning and his physical state indicates he will die very soon. Ran confirmed it when she said someone was using Dark Magic.” He stood up. “But it’s best if we get out of here before someone sees us. Not to mention tend to Ran since the residue of the spell set her off.”

Kanako hesitated but knew lunch hour was almost over. “Fine. But don’t tell Hime until we get to your place. We can’t have her worrying about the possibilities just yet.”

~~

“Removal Spell?” Momoka asked during study hall. “But Reni was with you when it happened, wasn’t she?”

“That’s why I’m worried,” Kanako murmured as she rubbed her thumb against her pendant in worry. _“That spell is classified only for Dark Mages but labeled illegal… No one should have been able to use it without going insane…”_

Momoka looked at her leader in worry, seeing how hard she’s thinking. “Kanako?”

Kanako blinked and looked at her friend. “S-sorry… Just thinking… The only ones who can use the Removal Spell are Reni and Hime, but Hime never learned it yet since it’s too dangerous. There’s also Yuuko-san but the chances of her reincarnating with the others is far too slim…”

“What about Anti-Mages?”

Kanako shook her head. “The three of us would have been able to sense an Anti-Mage long before Reni found the spell. Only the five of us can produce Anti-Mages but we don’t have enough harsh memories for them to surface. But why…? Why is that Spell appearing…?”

The Plant Mage quickly took hold of her leader’s shoulder. “Kanako. Try to calm down. It was your bad habit back then to overthink and panic.”

“S-sorry… I’m just worried if it will reach the five of us… or even Hime… You know the chances of someone reincarnating drastically decreases if that fall victim to that spell… We might not find each other again if we have to send Hime again…”

“Kanako…”

~~

Tomoko gently sipped her tea as the team sat in the living room. “So your day off is cancelled?” she asked, looking at the five.

“Yea… Something came up,” Aarin said. “Something that’s important.”

“Hm?”

“Someone fell victim to the Forbidden Removal Spell during lunch today,” Reni said as she folded her arms. “But the big question is who…”

“The Forbidden Removal Spell…? The spell that is often used in crimes by Dark Mages?” Tomoko asked, receiving nods. “I don’t remember learning of the Dark Syndicate being able to use that much Magic. You told me they hardly used any.”

“That’s why we’re worried. The only Mages that currently exists are the six of us plus Ryo. Only two of us have the ability to use that spell: you and me. We just never taught you that spell because it’s too risky and you’re still too young for it. I haven’t used it at all after you were born so that rules the two of us out.”

“Our only thoughts would be that Dorgon managed to gather enough fear and energy to learn that spell, or another Mage has awakened but taken over by the Dark Syndicate.”

“Another Mage…? So Aya-neechan?”

“This has nothing to do with Ayane,” Kanako snapped,” She’s safe… She should be…”

“Kanako-san…” Tomoko tightly gripped the pants of her pajamas. “Um… Is it okay if I ask something…? It’s not really related to the issue but… about Aya-neechan… Have any of you seen her…?”

“We just remembered her today, Tomoko,” Shiorin said, remembering to address her by her name. “We don’t know who she could be in this life. Our memories are still too fuzzy to figure out her identity.”

“I-I see… I’m sorry… Suddenly asking about her…”

“Don’t apologize. We’re actually worried, too… We don’t know if we’ll ever see her again since we got separated in the war.”

~~

Dorgon looked on at the dark cloud in front of him, projecting the scenes of the girls in school or at home. “Looks like they have adapted pretty well.” He looked over at the corner where a lone figure stood in the shadows. “How is it on your end? Have enough strength now?”

“Not… enough…” the figure muttered, deep breaths between each word.

“I see. Why don’t you gather some more before visiting the Royal Guards? And make sure to pick up the little princess for me.”

~~

_“Hospitals are being filled up as people fall into a sudden coma. Despite the hard work of the doctors, no cure has been found as of yet. Some have been found dead not long after being submitted into the hospital. Doctors were able to perform autopsies but found no traces of wounds or poison. Police is currently investigating these mysterious deaths in hopes of finding the perpetrator.”_

Reni shut off the TV in her room before burying her face in her pillow. “That stupid spell… Why does it have to appear all of a sudden…?”

Her phone rang and she picked it up to look at the caller ID. She answered. “Kanako?”

[Hey. You feeling okay? I just saw the news.]

Reni looked down as she hugged the pillow. “That aching pain in my chest keeps appearing when I think about it… I wonder if I did the same thing in the memories I didn’t get back…”

[Don’t say that. You were one of the kindest people in the capital from what I heard. You wouldn’t hurt a soul. Especially Hime.]

“Then why do I feel terrible when I think about that spell…?”

[I don’t know… But I do know that it’s not your fault. We just have to find out who awakened their Magic and put a stop to them. You’ll feel better by then.]

“You sure?”

[Positive. When can you ever doubt your leader?]

Reni couldn’t help but to laugh. “Okay…” She looked at the photos pinned to her wall. “Kanako… Do you have any ideas on where Ayane would be right now?”

[Not really… I’m just worried she’ll be targeted by that creep and hope she doesn’t get caught.]

“Yea… What about Akarin? I know she moved to the next district but sometimes she’s here for work, right?”

[Yea… I’m worried for her as well. I don’t want her to get caught in this. She’s too important to us. Even if she did leave the group…]

“I know… Maybe we can meet up with her once this war is over. We haven’t talked to her for a while.”

[That sounds nice. Take us on a Burari trip, Takagi. We can all talk during the train and bus rides.]

“Sounds like a plan. But thanks… Checking up on me…”

[A leader’s job to know her members well. Just make sure to talk to me if you have any problems, okay? You always have my shoulder.]

“As you do mine.” She looked at the time. “Ah. I gotta go. Haven’t finished my homework yet. We’ll meet at the intersection in the morning, right?”

[Ah! I forgot I had homework! Yea, we’ll meet at the intersection! I’ll see you then!]

Reni heard the click as the call ended. She softly laughed before standing up. She looked at her bed where her cat, Zetto, was already sleeping. She gently petted his head before going to her desk. Her eyes soon caught the frame resting on one of the shelves. She took hold of it and smiled when she saw herself with the others and their sixth member.

“Akarin. Kanako grew up a lot even after you left.” She smiled before her eyes glowed.

_“Ayane! Ayane! I forgot today’s schedule~”_

_“Again? This is the third time this month. Here. I have another copy on my desk.”_

_“You’re a savior~”_

_“At least make sure Hime doesn’t notice or she’ll inherit that habit.”_

Reni blinked as she looked at the photo again, confusion evident. She looked closer at the tall girl with midnight blue hair. “Ayane…?”


	8. The Shocking Truth

Reni slowly made her way to the intersection where she should meet the others. _“I wonder how the others would feel if I tell them about Akarin…”_ she thought as she walked.

“Takagi!”

She jumped when she found herself in front of the others. “G-girls… S-sorry… I kind of dozed off a bit…”

“You okay? You didn’t even realize we were right in front of you,” Shiorin said.

“Yea. I’m fine… How’s Hime?”

“Still in bed with the cold. Ryo said it will take another day for her to recover even with the Crown helping her.”

“I see…”

Kanako looked at the older girl, seeing the worry in her eyes. “Reni? Is something bothering you? You have that look on your face.”

Reni tightly held onto the straps of her school bag. “You still see it?”

“You have it even before we remembered everything. Can’t you tell us?”

The Dark Mage looked at her friends before taking in a deep breath. She sighed. “It’s about Ayane… I regained some clearer memories of her last night. Memories that gave me a clue about her identity in this life.”

They all looked at her. “So… who is she…?” Aarin asked, now worried.

Reni bit her lower lip. “It’s A-!” She was cut off when her eyes glowed as well as Aarin’s.

“At this hour…?” Shiorin muttered.

“Tell us after we deal with this, Reni. Safety of innocents comes first,” Kanako said. “Come on!”

“H-hai!” They all made a dash towards where Reni and Aarin found the disturbance.

~~

Tomoko’s eyes glowed as she opened the window from her room. “That bad feeling again…” she murmured worriedly. Her eyes turned gold as she scanned the area, only to find the others jumping between rooftops in their Magus forms. “They’re already going…” She started to leave but bumped into Ryo.

“Hime. You should stay here and rest,” the dragon chided. “And you can’t fight the Unknowns yet.”

Tomoko’s hands tightly clenched into fists as she looked at him. “I want to fight… I don’t want the burden to be pushed on them all the time. I don’t want them to die again!”

“Hime.” He grabbed her shoulders, making her struggle.

“Let me go!”

“Do you want their sacrifice to be in vain?! Those girls sent you here to make sure you’re safe and to find them just so they can properly defeat this enemy! You can’t just throw yourself into a battle you’re too scared to fight in!”

Tomoko continued to struggle as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m not scared! I don’t want them to die again! Not with that killer out there!”

“Hime!” He scowled when he watched her struggle. His eyes glowed before he forced his hand onto her head, knocking her unconscious. “I’m sorry, Hime. But we don’t have a choice. Just leave it to them. Even if it’s this risky…”

~~

The five landed in a plaza where they saw several bodies on the ground. They found a few of them covered in ice. Reni’s eyes glowed as she looked at all of them.

“All of them fell victim to that Spell so quickly…” she muttered. “How…?”

Shiorin’s eyes glowed as her foot shifted. “Get off the ground!” She stomped her foot before a pillar rose under her. Momoka quickly picked up Kanako before taking off into the air. Aarin summoned a disc and jumped on with Reni before the two flew up on it.

Aarin’s hands went to her ears. “Is this… a flood..?” she muttered.

The five heard loud rumbles before a large wave of water crashed through the streets, washing away the dead bodies. “This is bad…” Reni muttered as her hands clenched into fists. “We’re going against a Mage…”

The wave disappeared, allowing the five to land as they saw the damage. “Why would someone do this…?” Momoka murmured as she hugged her arms.

Kanako’s ears perked as she heard the tapping of heels against the concrete and clinking of chains. “Those footsteps…” They looked towards the end of the plaza to find a familiar figure, shocking them.

She was rather tall with broad shoulders that gave her a more mature physique. Her midnight blue hair was sloppily cut short but framed her slightly round yet mature face rather well, the fringe hovering over her sapphire eyes. Her outfit consisted mostly of leather as she wore a rather fitted black leather top with the straps falling to the sides. Chains hung from the straps as well as the collar. The back had large slits to reveal the dark blue strapless camisole she wore underneath. Her black denim shorts had small rips backed by navy fabric and larger chains hanging from the belt loops that went from her left front pocket to the adjacent back pocket. Black leather boots adorned her feet as well as leather cuffs that had small chains attached to them. The left cuff had a sapphire pendant embedded into the leather surrounded by silver spikes.

“Aka…rin…?” Kanako muttered when she saw the girl. “It can’t be…” Her sword fell out of her hands as tears formed. “Akarin!”

“Why did you attack us…? How did you even use Magic…?” Shiorin murmured, fear in her eyes when she saw icicles floating around their friend.

Reni tightly held onto her sword as she looked at the Mage. _“Ayane… What happened…?”_

“Stay back!” Ryo landed in front of them. His eyes glowed. “Ayane?”

They all looked at him before back at the girl. “Ayane…? Akarin is Ayane…?” Momoka muttered. “It can’t be… There has to be a mistake!”

“There is none, Plant Mage,” a voice sneered. Dark energy swirled next to Akarin as Dorgon appeared.

Ryo’s eyes narrowed as he prepared himself. “What did you do to Ayane? How did you even find her?”

Dorgon smirked. “I see you are quite surprised to see a fellow Guard turn her weapon against you. But if I do recall, she _was_ separated from the five of you during the war, wasn’t she?  Thought I would take advantage of the situation before dealing with the rest of you. She hasn’t changed at all when she was reborn so it was quite easy to awaken the darkness implanted into her.”

Kanako’s eyes glowed as she looked at the Dark Syndicate leader, her sword returning to her hands. “You implanted darkness into Ayane?!” she screamed as she pointed her sword at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You’ll pay for that!”

Ryo looked at the Fire Mage and noticed the red aura around her was moving uncontrollably as red tribal markings faintly appeared on her face. _“Her Magic will lose control at this rate…”_ He looked back at Dorgon and Akarin and noticed the latter took hold of an icicle to create a dagger. “Dammit…” He spread his wings. “We’re going home.”

“Get out of the way, Ryo!” Kanako shouted.

“Shut up and do as I say.” His eyes glowed before the six disappeared.

“Hm… Fleeing already?” Dorgon mused. “A shame they didn’t bring the Princess with them. Perhaps next time.” He looked at Akarin who started to take her leave. “Why don’t you take a rest? Surely you’d like to mess with them a little more?” Dark energy swirled around him before he disappeared, leaving Akarin to herself as she walked away.

~~

“Why did you stop me, Ryo?!” Kanako shouted as the six were in the living room of the Hamasaki household. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Akarin… Akarin was Ayane all along and you never told us! And Dorgon implanted dark energy into her! So why did you stop me?!”

“Kanako. Calm down,” Ryo said. “If you go any further, you’ll go berserk and hurt everyone.”

“But Ryo-!”

“Kanako!” Shiorin took hold of her. “Ryo is telling the truth… We saw markings on you… We’re worried about Akarin, too, but it’s not like you to lash out like that… Just calm down…”

Kanako looked at her and saw the tears in her eyes as well as the others’. “Tamai…” She looked at the others and noticed they were also distraught over their friend’s dark transformation and her outbursts. She looked down. “S-sorry… I just… I… I-it was just too sudden… We were that close to finding Ayane… I don’t know what came over me when we found out she’s Akarin and her being turned evil…”

“Does Hime know…?” Aarin asked s she looked at the dragon.

Ryo shook his head. “I put her to sleep before I came to get you. She was too persistant on helping you even though she can’t fight, herself. Forgive me… I didn’t expect this to happen…”

“So what should we do…?” Momoka murmured worriedly as she hugged her arms. “We can’t fight Akarin… We just can’t…”

“I know… But we don’t have much of a choice since she’s now turned against us.” He turned away. “I’ll get you girls some snacks. Must be a little tired from using Magic.”

“Th-thanks…”

~~

A pair of sapphire eyes snapped open as a girl with ocean blue hair woke up from a sudden nightmare. She looked around to find herself in her bedroom and sat up. Her hand went to her head as she winced.

 _“What was that…?”_ she thought to herself. _“I’ve been blacking out the past few days… Why…?”_

“Akari! Did you wake up?” a voice called from the living room. “I got some snacks!”

“Okay!” she called before getting out of bed. She looked at her wooden desk where a picture frame rested, the same photo Reni had. She picked it up as her eyes lowered when she saw the others. _“I wonder if they’re okay… I heard them in that dream again…”_

_“Ayane!”_

_“Come on! We have today off! Let’s go to the marketplace~”_

_“Eh? What about Hime?”_

_“Ryo is in charge of her schedule today. Come on, Ayane~”_

Akarin winced as her hand went to her head. _“Why do they keep appearing…?”_ She looked at the photo. _“Why do I have a bad feeling about this…?”_

~~

Tomoko’s eyes snapped open as she breathed heavily. She sat up, her eyes glowing orange in panic. _“That dream… Aya-neechan…?”_

She jumped out of bed before running towards the living room to find the others having some snacks as Ryo was making lunch for them. “K-Kanako-san…? You’re all here…” She tensed. “A-Aya-neechan! I-I saw something! Did something happen to Aya-neechan?!”

The five hesitated as they looked away, unsure what to tell their princess. Tomoko saw them waver. “A-Aya-neechan… What happened to her…? You all have that look on your face…” She tightly gripped the pants of her pajamas, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “That same look when you’re keeping secrets… What happened to Aya-neechan?!”

“Hime! Don’t raise your voice!” Reni said sternly, her eyes glowing as she looked at the girl.

Tomoko recoiled as she looked down. “I… I…”

Reni stood up and took hold of the girl’s shoulders. “Sit down. There’s a lot to talk about.”

“O-okay…” Tomoko took a seat on the loveseat with Reni sitting next to her.

The Dark Mage summoned the photo before placing it in Tomoko’s hands. “We met Ayane years ago when we first formed the group. Her name is Akari Hayami. We found out the two are the same person today.”

Tomoko looked at the photo, recognizing the tallest one. “Aya-neechan… But where is she…?”

Reni looked away, her gaze at the floor. “She’s with the Dark Syndicate… Dorgon took advantage of her being separated from us during the war… He implanted darkness into her before she died. He found her again in this time and forced her into awakening her Magic and the darkness in her.”

Tomoko looked at her, her eyes orange. “Y-you’re lying… Aya-neechan wouldn’t be like that… She wouldn’t be easily influenced and you know that…”

“We do know she wouldn’t be swayed easily,” Aarin said,” But we didn’t know until we saw her. We don’t know what happened after Ayane got separated from us so it was logical hat something like this happened to her.”

Tomoko shook her head. “You’re lying!”

“We’re not lying!” Kanako snapped as she stood up. “When did you become this stubborn, Hime?! Did you hit your head again when you woke up?!”

“Quiet!” Ryo shouted as he ran between the two. “Yelling doesn’t solve anything.” He looked at Tomoko. “Hime. I know it’s hard to take in but the girls are telling the truth. We just have to find a way to bring Ayane back.” He looked back at Kanako. “And you should cool your head. I understand it’s a shock to you as well but you shouldn’t take it out in Hime like that.”

“But Ryo-!”

“But nothing. I understand. You were all very close to Ayane in this life and seeing her like that may be too much for you. But you have to calm down and think this through rather than yelling at each other. Do you understand?”

The six looked at him, seeing how it’s the first time he lectured them on their behavior. Kanako looked away. “Fine.” She took her seat as Shiorin rested a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

“But even if we do come up with a plan, how will we even bring her back?” Aarin asked.

Ryo folded his arms as he sighed. “We’re dealing with a Mage that has been turned against us to work for the Dark Syndicate and now has the ability to use Dark Magic. I have a theory but I’m not sure if it will work or not.”

“What is it?” Shiorin asked.

“Dorgon said he implanted darkness into her. We all know that Mages all hold a unique Magic Crystal in their bodies that enables them to use Magic as well as keeping the soul safe. But darkness cannot easily be injected to the crystal, especially for the Dark Syndicate where their magical abilities are far lower than a typical Mage. I was thinking that if that is the case, the darkness simply surrounds the Crystal, altering the decisions and behavior between the Crystal and the body. The removal can be much simpler as long as Ran can concentrate.”

They all looked at the Dark Mage who quickly shook her head. “I am not using that spell. I just can’t. You know better than I do that I just can’t use that spell very well no matter the circumstances.”

“You’re the only one that can use the Removal Spell. Surely you were training enough to be able to manipulate it into doing what you want.”

“It’s not that simple. I don’t even remember using that Spell at all. I know I have but I just don’t remember. It’s possible I might even kill her if I accidentally make the wrong move.”

Ryo sighed. “It was the only solution I could think of… But right now, it’s the quickest way to subdue her and get rid of the darkness in her. We don’t have much of a choice.”

The six looked at him, worried of what could go wrong during the plan. They soon heard a chime as Kanako took out her phone. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the Caller ID. “Akarin…”

They all looked at her. “Eh?”

Kanako hesitated before answering. “Hello?”

[K-Kanako? Hey… It’s been a while since we last talked.]

“Y-yea…  How’s it going? Any new roles…?”

[J-just some small ones… But Kanako…]

“Yea?”

[W-would it be okay if we can meet at the shopping district tomorrow? You can bring the others, too. I kinda want to see you guys again. It’s been too long since we last talked to each other.]

Kanako tensed, unsure if she should accept the request. She looked at the others who were also worried. “S-sure… We’ll meet you there…” She hung up. “I-I wonder if she knows…”

~~

Akarin locked her phone when the call ended before letting out a sigh. Her eyes lowered in worry. _“I didn’t tell her… Hopefully I don’t black out when I’m with them…”_


	9. Inability to Accept

Akarin checked her watch as she sat at the edge of the large fountain in the center of the shopping district. She gently fixed her white hoodie over her jeans as she sighed. She looked into the water before gently dipping her fingers into it. She softly smiled.

_Beware of the dragon._

Her eyes glowed as she quickly pulled away. “What the…?”

“Akarin!”

She turned to find the idols and smiled. She stood up and walked over. “Hey. Long time no see,” she said. “Sorry for calling last minute. A lot has been going on.”

“Same here. But at least we have today,” Kanako said before adding,” Ah. There’s a café that opened up last year. We can go there.”

“That sounds pretty good.”

The group started to walk around. “Akari-chan~ How long has it been since you last came to Hatsuban?” Reni asked as the six walked.

“The last time…? I think it was a few months ago. I remember I had a photo shoot to do. People rarely come here to film.”

The Guards exchanged knowing looks, seeing how their friend doesn’t seem to remember what happened the past few days with the Removal Spell case.

“Hey, Akarin… Do you by any chance… remember what happened the night of Kouhaku 2012?” Kanako asked from beside her friend. “Our first Kouhaku.”

Akarin let out a short laugh. “Of course I remember. You used the original version of ‘Kaitou’ and then called me while crying your eyes out. But why ask?”

“N-nothing… Just a little worried about something… For a second there, I thought you might have forgotten for some reason. An important memory based on a promise we shared…”

“Hmm…” Akarin gave a small nod before looking forward. “Well don’t worry so much about it. The rest of you as well. I won’t forget something that important to the six of us.”

“Yea… The six of us…”

Akarin looked at the five and noticed the worry on their faces. “Something bothering you guys? You were even worried on the phone yesterday, Kanako.”

“A lot has been going on the past few weeks. Not too much of a problem,” Reni said sheepishly. “We were just wondering how you’ve been doing. Surely there are some worries you might want to get off our chest.”

The blunette looked at her older friend. “Worries?” She looked up into the sky. “Hmm… There has been something on my mind lately. But you guys might think it’s a little weird.”

“You’re talking to us and we’re weird enough already,” the Dark Mage joked.

“True… So can I tell you?”

“If you want,” Aarin said.

“Hmm… Okay. Lately I’ve been having weird dreams, even daydreams. I heard your voices but you were calling me by a different name. There was also another girl but I didn’t seem to catch her name.” She looked back when she noticed they stopped. “Something wrong?”

“Akarin… You remember Tomoko?” Momoka asked quietly.

“Tomoko?” Her eyes started to glow as she averted her gaze for a quick moment before back at them. “How did you know her name…?”

The five looked at each other before showing her their pendants. “She and Ryo gave us these,” Shiorin said,” We got the same memories two weeks ago when we met her.  Even memories about you.”

Akarin looked at them. “So… you didn’t tell me?”

“Just to keep you safe and out of the fights that go with the memories,” Kanako said,” We didn’t want you to get involved since it’s dangerous. Even the five of us didn’t want to get involved since it sounded so crazy at first until we regained most of our memories with Tomoko. Memories of Hime.”

“Hime…?”

_“Aya-neechan! Let’s go play!”_

_“I can’t, Hime. I have some work to do.”_

_“Please~ My parents said it’s okay and the others want you to play, too~”_

_“…Okay, okay. But just know the two of us will get in trouble if anything happens.”_

_“Okay~ Now come on~ They’re going to start Elemental Battle~”_

Akarin winced as her hand went to her head. _“These visions again…”_

“Akarin?” Kanako got closer to her. “Are you getting more memories?”

_“Ayane!”_

_“Get Hime to the tower! I’ll be fine!”_

_“AYANE!”_

_“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.”_

_“What are you?!”_

Akarin collapsed to her knees as a dark glow appeared at her chest. “Akarin!” They all rushed to her side.

“Aarin! We need a healing spell!” Kanako cried as she held onto her friend’s shoulders to keep her steady.

Aarin’s eyes glowed as she placed her hand on Akarin’s chest, only to be shocked. She pulled away. “Healing spells won’t work!”

“Damn it! Akarin! Get a hold of yourself!”

Akarin’s eyes started to have a dark glow to them before she weakly looked at them. “Run…” she murmured. “Hurry…”

“Akarin…”

Reni’s eyes glowed. “Kanako!” She quickly summoned a barrier before a large pulse of dark energy came, knocking the five away from their friend.

~~

Tomoko’s ears perked as she looked away from her homework. “Reni-san…?” She soon felt something tied around her wrist before finding herself cuffed against the coffee table. “Eh?” She looked up to find Ryo leaving. “Ryo-san!”

The dragon stopped before looking back at her. “Stay here. You won’t be able to fight Ayane if you’re too emotional.”

“Wait! Ryo-san!” She tried to get out as the dragon closed the door behind him. “Ryo-san!” _“Aya-neechan… It’s Aya-neechan again… The others won’t be able to fight her, either… So why keep me here…?”_ Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to get out.

~~

Kanako quickly got to her feet. “Akarin!” she cried. She gasped when she saw her friend getting to her feet as she was transformed into the outfit she wore the other day. “Akarin…” She fell to her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Screams were heard as nearby pedestrians fled when they saw what happened. Seeing how no one can witness them, the others quickly pulled out their pendants. **_“Henshin!”_** Bright light surrounded them as the four transformed and summoned their weapons.

“Akarin! We don’t want to fight you!” Reni shouted. “Open your eyes! Akarin!” Her eyes widened as icicles flew towards them.

“Kanako!” Momoka took hold of the Fire Mage before they all dodged. She set the girl onto her feet. “Kanako. Kanako! Get a hold of yourself!”

Kanako tightly held onto Momoka’s arms as she looked at the Water Mage. “Akarin…” Tears streamed down her cheeks before she took hold of her pendant. **_“HENSHIN!”_** She transformed and pointed her sword at her friend. “Why…? Of all people… WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU?!” she screamed.

Momoka looked at her leader in worry. “Kanako…” Her ears perked before finding more icicles. She quickly took hold of the Fire Mage to shield her.

A blast of blue fire appeared before the team, melting the icicles away. Ryo landed in front of them in his dragon form. “Should have known it was too risky for you to see her alone…” he muttered. “You girls okay?”

“We’re fine,” Aarin said as they got back to their feet. “But we can’t use any Healing Spells on her…”

“So I really do have to use that spell…?” Reni muttered.

“The only other option is one that you girls would absolutely refuse without question,” Ryo said. He looked around as Unknowns emerged from the ground. “Looks like we have more than just Ayane to worry about.”

“Well we can’t let them loose in the city… But Akarin will attack, too…” Shiorin muttered.

“What should we do?” Momoka asked as she held onto Kanako who was cooling down. “We can’t fight her…”

“Let me take care of it…” Kanako said, only to be held back by Ryo’s tail. “Ryo!”

“You can’t fight her in that state. You still lack the resolve. Keep Hime company before she gets out of those cuffs.” His eyes glowed as the five disappeared. He looked over at Akarin, a ring of blue fire surrounding him. “Dorgon probably sent you to take Hime. A shame that she won’t be found by you.”

Dorgon soon appeared. “So you’ve finally decided on challenging us alone. This will be quite interesting.”

Ryo smirked. “Bring it.”

~~

The Guards landed in the living room of the Hamasaki household. “Ryo!” Kanako slammed her sword onto the ground before falling to her knees. “That idiot…” Shiorin quickly went to her side to comfort her.

“Hime!” Momoka rushed over to Tomoko who was still chained to the coffee table.

“Momoka-san…” Tears fell as she looked at the Plant Mage. “Ryo-san… Where’s Ryo-san…?”

Momoka nervously bit her lip. “Ryo sent us here so he could fight the Syndicate alone… He said we won’t be able to fight Akarin since we don’t want to hurt her…” She took hold of the chain before breaking it, making the Cuffs disappear.

Tomoko soon got to her feet before going towards the door, only to be stopped by Reni. “You can’t go out there, Tomoko.”

The small princess struggled against the Dark Mage’s hold. “Let me go! Ryo-san’s in danger!”

“Dorgon and Akarin are after you. It’s too risky if you go out even with us as escorts.”

“But Reni-san!”

“But nothing!”

Tomoko flinched when the older girl raised her voice. She looked at her. “Reni-san…”

Reni took hold of her shoulders. “Hime. Sit down. I’m sure Ryo will be fine.”

“But…”

“No buts.”

Tomoko hesitated, knowing she shouldn’t get them angry, especially when they’re calling her by her title. “O-okay…” She took a seat on the couch with the older girl.

“Hime. Ryo just wants to make sure you’re safe and to keep his promise to us,” Reni said as she wrapped her arm around the girl in comfort. “When we sent you here, we told him to protect you at all costs to make sure you would be safe and help end this battle. We know you’re still too inexperienced with fighting but just know that we want to do what’s best for your safety even if it risks ours.” She gently wrapped her hands around the girl’s face to make her look at her. “You’re our Princess and the one person who showed us what true happiness was. We can’t lose that. Just trust us and Ryo. Okay?”

Tomoko looked at her older comrade, seeing the fear and worry in her eyes. _“Those eyes… They always try to hide that look from me until now… Why…?”_ She tightly gripped the end of her skirt before giving a small nod. “Okay… I’ll trust you… But please… please don’t let yourselves die again… I don’t want to lose you again…”

“We know…” She pulled the girl into a hug and had the girl’s head against her chest. “Put your trust in us… And we’ll all find a way…”

“Okay…”

The others watched on in worry, remembering what happened that day.

~~

_Eutopolis. Year ????, Royal Palace._

_Messy footsteps were heard as Tomoko ran through the halls of the large palace, her baby blue sundress torn after running past rubble and fallen furniture. She looked up at Ran who was holding her wrist as she led her further in, the others trailing behind to fend off the Unknowns that could follow them. “Ran-neechan… Where are we going?” she asked as she looked at the Dark Mage._

_“The East Tower. There’s an escape route there.”_

_“Eh?”_

_The ground shook, making the group stop. “Watch out!” A large wave of water pushed the team forward. Large pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground a few feet away._

_Kimiko quickly got up, seeing how they’re missing someone. She looked back at the mountain of rubble. “AYANE! OI! AYANE!” she shouted, her eyes giving out a pulsing glow._

_“Hurry and get to the tower!” Ayane shouted from the other side. “I’ll be fine! Worry about Hime first!”_

_“Ayane!”_

_Sheru took hold of Kimiko’s arm before summoning a wall, shielding the two from more rubble. “We have to go!”_

_Kimiko looked at the rubble, tears in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut before turning away. “Keep going!” she ordered before the team ran._

_Ran opened up a hidden door before they all rushed in, only to find themselves in darkness. “Ran! Make the barrier!” Aira ordered before summoning an orb of light._

_“Got it!” Ran’s eyes glowed before the walls were covered with a purple barrier, stopping the black goop from seeping in through the stone walls. “Hurry!”_

_The six quickly ran up as Ryo flew next to them. They heard loud hisses and looked towards the bottom where Unknowns were crawling behind them. “Stay away!” Sheru shouted before kicking the steps below them, knocking the rest down._

_The six continued to run before reaching a wooden door. They quickly entered as more barriers were erected. Minami summoned vines to keep the door closed and took hold of a book shelf to place in front. “Hurry!” she shouted. “It won’t hold!”_

_Tomoko looked around, having not been in the tower before. “What is this place…?” she murmured worriedly._

_Kimiko went to another wooden door before opening it, revealing what looks like a pink and white vortex. “Looks like going through it will be okay…” She looked at Tomoko. “Hime. Use this to escape.”_

_“Eh?” She looked at the five. “Where are we going?”_

_“We’re sending you to another time period far off into the future,” Aira said,” Go find us there and tell us everything that’s going on so we can stop this war.”_

_“Y-you’re not coming with me? I don’t understand! Why can’t you come?!”_

_Ran took hold of her shoulders. “Hime. It takes all five of us to seal the portal. We can’t let the enemy follow you.” They all took off their pendants, turning them back to their usual selves in color-coded dresses. The pendants floated over to Tomoko before wrapping around her neck. “Use these to find us. It’ll be easier from there.”_

_Tomoko shook her head. “No! I want you to come with me! Don’t leave me alone like this!”_

_The Dark Mage softly smiled, wiping away the girl’s tears. “You’ll be fine.” She looked at Ryo who landed on the Princess’s head. “You have Ryo with you to make sure everything’s okay. Just trust us.”_

_“Ran-neechan…” She noticed the tears in her eyes before being pushed back into the portal. She reached out to the five who started to grow smaller. “DON’T LEAVE ME!” she screamed, tears falling down her cheeks._

_Ran closed the door, tears forming in her eyes before falling. “We’re so sorry, Hime… But we have to…”_

_Aira gently rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Come on. The attack died down when she got through. Let’s seal it and finish the plan.”_

_“I know…”_

_The two stepped back to join the others as they all summoned swords. “Go!” Kanako ordered as they swung, destroying the door._

~~

“Hopefully you’ll forgive us for that, Hime,” Momoka said quietly,” But we really had our reasons… Especially before we sent you through…”

“We just have to deal with this enemy as fast as possible,” Shiorin said,” And get Akarin back.”

They heard the front door open as the five quickly took out their weapons. “Protect Hime,” Kanako ordered. They stopped when they saw Ryo weakly walking in, brutally damaged from the battle. Before they could react, the dragon collapsed on the ground.

**“RYO!” “RYO-SAN!”**


	10. Last-Minute Planning

The six heard the front door open as the five quickly took out their weapons. “Protect Hime,” Kanako ordered. They stopped when they saw Ryo weakly walking in, brutally damaged from the battle. Before they could react, the dragon collapsed on the ground.

“RYO!” “RYO-SAN!”

They quickly ran to his side as Momoka picked him up. “Ryo! Wake up! Ryo!”

The dragon weakly opened his eyes as he looked at the group. “Looks like… you’re safe…” he said, his voice hoarse and weak. He coughed, only to have blood trail from the corner of his mouth.

“Ryo-san!” Tomoko took hold of his arm, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Ryo-san… You’ll be okay, right…? You’ll feel better, won’t you…?”

He solemnly smiled. “Please forgive me for this, my Princess… But dragons have a limit, too… I’m afraid I’ve reached mine…”

“Ryo-san… Please… Please, no… Don’t leave me…”

He gently petted her head. “It will be fine. I believe in all of you…” He looked over at Kanako. “Watch Hime… There was only so much I could do for her when we were here… End this war… And make sure Hime is safe…”

“Ryo! Get a hold of yourself!” Kanako cried,” This is too soon! If you can’t beat them… how can we?”

“You can and you will. Just take Ayane back… You should know the way… It’s all up to you girls now…”

“Ryo…”

Ryo’s eyes slowly closed as he fell limp. Black smoke came from him as he changed into his small dragon form, lifeless in Momoka’s hands. “Ryo…”

“RYO-SAN!” Tomoko screamed as tears fell freely.

Reni wrapped her arms around the girl in comfort, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. _“To think even Ryo would be defeated…”_

Kimiko’s hands tightly clenched into fists, her eyes glowing as tears streamed down her cheeks. She stood up. “We’re going to bring Akarin back… No matter what happens, we’re going to bring Akarin back…”

“Kanako…” Shiorin looked at her leader, worried she might be pushing herself too hard. “But Ryo-!”

“Ryo is different! But we can’t just sit here and mourn the whole time after what he did for us! I’m sure he wants the same thing.”

“But how will we bring Akarin back?” Aarin asked,” We don’t know if we can really use the Removal Spell on her… We don’t even know if we can fight her…”

“I don’t know either… But it doesn’t mean we should give up so easily. This involves planning.” She knelt down to look at Tomoko who was still crying in Reni’s arms. She rested a hand on the princess’s shoulder. “Tomoko. We won’t let Ryo’s death be in vain. Just give us some time so we can find ways to bring Akarin back and avenge him.” She looked back at the dragon that rested in Momoka’s arms. “He’s leaving it to us to take care of you… But we can’t sit around and wait to be attacked…”

~~

Akarin’s eyes snapped open as she started to breathe heavily, her eyes giving out a pulsing glow. “I…” She looked around to find herself in her room again. “How did I…?” She sat up before finding the picture frame on the floor, broken and cut into two.

She rushed over to it. “What the…?” She took hold of the photo. Her eyes glowed as her hand went to her head. _“Why…? Why does it hurt so much when I see them…?”_

_“She and Ryo gave us these. We got the same memories two weeks ago when we met her.  Even memories about you.”_

The pain started to grow stronger. _“Just what the heck did I do…? Why can’t I remember it like them…?”_

~~

Dorgon looked on. “So she’s really starting to remember everything,” he mused,” Well. Depending on her actions, it will be for naught.” He smirked. “As long as that pet is gone, we will get what we want.”

He summoned another cloud that showed a portrait of Tomoko. “Soon, I will make her mine.”

~~

Shiorin carefully poured the ashes into a white and black urn as Kanako put out the fire. The Earth Mage looked at her leader. “You really think we’ll be able to get Akarin back?” she asked as she closed the urn. “We don’t know how to hold her down enough to get rid of the darkness. Not to mention Reni doesn’t want to use that spell…”

“I know… But we still have to find a way… Akarin is too important to us. We can’t just let her continue to be part of the Syndicate and be in pain because of it…”

“So what about Hime…? We can’t just let her stay here alone where no one could watch her.”

“We’ll be staying with her tonight at least… We just have to figure out what to do after without having other people worry… Getting Akarin back, taking care of Hime… Finally defeating the Dark Syndicate… We just have to find a way.”

The door opened as Aarin came out. “Dinner is ready. Hime woke up from her nap, too.”

“She okay?” Shiorin asked.

“Better than before… Still shocked so she will need some more time.”

“I see…”

~

“We already got the okay from our parents so we’ll be staying over for tonight,” Reni said after they finished eating. “We just have to figure out what to do tomorrow.” She took her seat.

“Wonder how we can do it… Separating darkness from someone is hard enough for humans. It’ll be too difficult for Mages,” Aarin murmured as she thought. “Not to mention this is completely different from Anti-Mages and Shadows.”

“We only have tomorrow or we won’t have any more chances,” Kanako said,” We just have to find the best way to snap her out of it.” She looked over at Reni. “You sure you don’t want to use the spell?”

Reni looked away. “It’s too risky… I know there’s a two hour time limit for Unstables but it’s possible I might not be able to take both the Crystal and darkness as separate beings, especially when the darkness has been there for so long…”

“Reni…”

“But there’s a way… A slim chance I don’t know if we should take…”

They all looked at her, curious of the chance. “Anything we can do to help?” Shiorin asked.

“It was something the former Guards told me when Hime was still a baby. If we are able to mentally separate the darkness from a person, there’s a higher chance to take it out without hurting them. So if we manage to snap Akarin back to normal while she’s fighting us, I might be able to remove the darkness. I just don’t know if it will truly work.”

“But… it doesn’t hurt to try, right?” Momoka asked,” There’s still a chance…”

“I know… But I don’t exactly know how… Especially since memories of Eutopolis will hurt her…”

“True… But we should take the chance,” Kanako said,” Even if we had fond memories of Eutopolis, it doesn’t mean it’s the only thing that can bring her back to her senses when she’s fighting us. We can always use something else. She may be Ayane but she’s also Akarin which means she has memories with us in this life. We can take advantage of that. No matter what we have to do, we will find ways to make her remember all the good times we had together.”

“You sure? It will be a tough battle,” Shiorin said as she bit into a cracker. “We don’t know if she’ll listen to us or have backup with her.”

“Then… let me fight…”

They looked over to find Tomoko who finally spoke. “Let me fight…” she repeated.

“You can’t, Tomoko. The Dark Syndicate is after you,” Reni said,” What if something happens and they take you away? They might do the same thing to you or even kill you for the Crown.”

“But I want to see Aya-neechan, too! You’re always telling me to stay home and keep myself away from the enemy, but I want to help, too! Why did you even train me to fight if you won’t let me?! It’s too selfish of you to say you’re going to fight alone and let me just sit by and watch!”

“Hime! You’re going too far!” Shiorin chided.

“I don’t care anymore! You’re always keeping secrets from me! You’re always telling me that everything’s fine when it’s not! Why do you keep asking me to trust you when you can’t trust me?!”

A loud smack was heard as Kanako stood before the girl, Tomoko’s head swung to the side from the sudden hit. “That’s enough!”

Tomoko looked at her, her hand on her cheek as tears were falling. “Kanako-san…”

Kanako slammed her hand on the backrest of the couch before leaning closer to the girl. “Listen to me, Hime. We told you this, already. Having you fight is too risky and you’re still too scared to fight the Syndicate. We know you want to help get Akarin back but it’s too risky. Unless you have the resolve to get over that fear, you can’t fight with us.”

“But Kanako-san!”

Reni took hold of her shoulder. “Hime. We understand you want to help but there are just some things we have to do by ourselves. Sure we keep secrets but they’re the type you’re just not ready for. We trust you but it’s our duty as the Royal Guards to keep you safe. Ryo has done that in our absence so far and we won’t let his efforts go to waste.”

“Reni-san… But what if you’re outnumbered…? What if you can’t get Aya-neechan back…? Please… just let me help you this one time… Please…”

Reni couldn’t help but to let out a small laugh. “You’ve really became rebellious, Hime. Even talking back to us even when we’re yelling at you. But if you really want to fight with us, you have to get over your fear. Can you do that?”

“I’ll do it! I’ll try really hard to do it!”

“You have to promise us if you do that. We won’t let you fight if you don’t keep it.”

“I’ll keep it! I promise I’ll keep it!”

Reni smiled and gently petted her head. “Make sure to always keep it.” She looked over at Kanako. “Any thoughts?”

The Fire Mage looked away. “We’ll let her if she keeps that promise. But don’t go yelling at us again. It’s unlike you.”

Shiorin nudged her leader’s arm. “Same goes to you,” she teased.

“You be quiet.” She looked at Tomoko. “Just don’t throw yourself into danger so easily. We’re only doing it because it’s our mission. Remember that.”

“O-okay…”

~~

Kanako laid down on the futon as the five were in the guest room. “Was I too hard on her…?”

“Just a little,” Reni teased. “But we understand. Hime never went against us like that so it’s quite a shock. The war really changed her.”

“Yea…”

“At least she’s growing up,” Momoka said with a smile. “We always worried about her like she’s still a child. The growth rate in Eutopolis is probably to blame.”

“But are you sure it’s okay to let her fight?” Aarin asked,” Sure she’s strong enough to fight by herself but she’s too scared of Unknowns to fight them.”

“I’m not sure myself,” Kanako said,” But if she has that resolve, we have to let her. But she has a point… Our sole focus is to save Akarin… We won’t be able to reach her if Unknowns help her to even out the numbers. They’ll be more attracted to Hime since she’s their prime target but she should be able to take them if she can. Another obstacle would be how to bring her back. We need something that can trigger those memories.”

“Hmm… Would a song work…? A song all six of us sang together?”

“That could work… But we might also need something that could trigger memories of both lives,” Shiorin said. “Maybe call out to her… Nicknames, events… Anything that can help…”

“True…”

The door opened as Tomoko came in with her pillow. “Tomoko? You okay?” Momoka asked.

The princess tightly hugged her pillow. “Um… Is it okay if I sleep here tonight…? Ryo-san is usually next door and… um…”

Kanako sighed. “Okay. Come here.” She scooted over and let Tomoko sit next to her. “Right in the center.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s fine. Besides, you’re always used to having someone next door.”

“I know… But we’ll get Aya-neechan back, right…? With a plan you’re all making?”

“Of course. Besides. Knowing her, she’s probably fighting back for control. Trust us, okay?”

“Okay…” Tomoko laid down. “Will the seven of us play together, then…?”

The Fire Mage gently petted her head. “Of course. We’ll have a party celebrating her return.”

“Okay…” Tomoko soon fell asleep, making the five smile.

“She really is a child,” Shiorin said before brushing the girl’s hair behind her ear.

“Guess we have our own promise to keep,” Kanako said. “We can’t lose any more people.”


	11. The Missing Mage

Kanako looked at her phone, Akarin’s number already typed in to call. She looked at the others who gave a nod. She took in a deep breath before calling. The ringer started to sound as the team waited.

~

Akarin’s ears perked and found her phone ringing. She picked it up to look at the Caller ID. “Kanako…” She tightly gripped her phone, knowing something must have happened yesterday for her friend to call so suddenly. She answered. “Hello? Kanako?”

~

Kanako couldn’t help but to smile when she heard her friend. “Akarin… Sorry for calling so early but are you busy today? The others and I want to see you.”

[Eh…? Are you sure…?]

“Of course. But listen. This is important. Just as important as to what happened yesterday.”

[Yesterday…? I don’t really remember what happened…]

“We know. That’s why we want to talk to you. Akarin. We’re going to save you.”

[Eh?]

“Those memories cause a lot of pain to you, don’t they? You might not know the full details but just trust us. Meet us at Yoyogi Park in an hour. We’re going to help you no matter what it takes.”

~

Akarin looked at her phone, unsure what the girl was talking about. “O-okay… I’ll see you there.”

[Okay! Remember! One hour!]

She heard a click as the call ended. She put her phone down and looked at it. “Yoyogi… Why does she want me at Yoyogi so suddenly…? The others, too…”

Her eyes glowed purple as her hand went to her head. She winced as she curled up into a ball. _“This pain again… Why of all times…?”_

~~

“Kanako-san. Why did you ask Aya-neechan to come to Yoyogi Park?” Tomoko asked as the six walked through the said park to a destination unknown to the girl.

“Yoyogi is a special place for us,” the Fire Mage said. “You might not remember but you knew of us as an idol group when you were amnesiac. When we first started, we had to perform here to practice performing for people. The crowds were really small but we were happy enough that people came to watch us.”

“Really?”

“Yea. But Aarin and I weren’t in the group until later,” Momoka said. “At first it was just Reni, Kanako and Tama-chan performing. Akarin was there helping them hand out flyers while the three of them were performing until she was scouted to join the group. She was really the most mature and level-headed out of the six of us. Much like Ayane.”

“So why did she leave the group? She had fun, didn’t she?”

“Not exactly…” Reni said,” Akarin decided to leave the group almost four years ago. She said she wasn’t fit to be an idol and decided to move on as an actress instead. We were all against her leaving but because it was her decision, we had to let her go. You saw how different she was from the five of us back in Eutopolis. That kind of difference affected how things work in this life.”

“I didn’t know that…”

Kanako wrapped an arm around the small girl. “That’s fine. You’re not used to living in this time period yet. But don’t worry so much. We tend to run into her sometimes and we usually find days to hang out when our schedule allows it. We still keep in touch with one another so it’s fine.”

“I see… So will you use that as a way to bring her back?”

“We will try our best to make sure it does. Akarin is an important friend to us. We can’t let her go that easily.”

Tomoko couldn’t help but to smile. “Okay. I trust all of you. But that means I will try my best to help. I might still be inexperienced but I’ll do my best!”

“Keep your word for it. Akarin depends on it.”

“I will!” The six laughed as they continued walking.

“Ah! There it is!” Shiorin said, pointing out a spot between the trees. They all ran over to it.

“It really hasn’t changed,” Reni grinned before looking across the large bricked path. “And the view to NHK Hall hasn’t changed, either.”

“ANOTHER YEAR OF KOUHAKU!” Kanako shouted, surprising the five.

“We have two more months before the announcement,” Momoka chided.

“ANOTHER YEAR OF KOUHAKU!” Reni shouted.

The others sighed before looking at each other before joining the two. “ANOTHER YEAR OF KOUHAKU!” they shouted.

Tomoko softly laughed. “What’s that?”

“An important music show held at the end of the year: The Red and White Year-end Music Festival. The best musicians are invited to sing there and is considered an achievement for those in the music industry,” Shiorin explained. “We’ve already performed there twice and hope for a third this year.”

“That’s amazing! I didn’t know there’s something like that!”

“Yep! It was actually right here when we first thought about performing since we can see the hall from this place. Well. All we need now is for Akarin to host it so we can finally reach out dream to attend as the six of us.”

“Then I’ll cheer for you! So you can all be there on day!”

Shiorin smiled at the small girl, seeing her childish side come out again. She gently petted the princess’s head. “We appreciate it.”

Tomoko softly smiled at the gesture until her eyes turned into a mix of violet and blue. She turned, making the others worried. “Tomoko. Did you sense Akarin?” Reni asked, receiving a small nod.

Aarin’s ears perked as she turned to find icicles. “Dodge!”

Momoka took hold of Tomoko before the five jumped out of the way, the icicles hitting the fence and bushes as they started to freeze. The six landed as the Guards took out their pendants. **_“Henshin!”_** Bright light surrounded them as they transformed into their Magus Modes.

Tomoko took out her pendant as well, her eyes turning gold. **_“Henshin! Magus Mode!”_**  
Bright light surrounded her as her t-shirt and white skirt turned into a white leotard with light gold embroidery. Blue and white ribbons surrounded her to make a white skirt that turned blue near the bottom. White light covered her hands and feet to form white gloves and knee-high boots with a blue trim on the boots. More ribbons appeared to create a navy blue robe clasped by her pendant on both sides. A gold tiara rested on her head with a blue gemstone on the center. Her eyes glowed again as a scythe with a crystal staff appeared in her hands.

“Looks like it took over before she came,” Kanako muttered when they saw Akarin also transformed. “Aarin. Set up a barrier.”

“Okay.” The Wind Mage’s eyes glowed before a barrier surrounded the six before expanding, isolating them from the public.

“Tomoko. Stand back. You’re not strong enough to fight her just yet.”

“Okay.” Tomoko readied her scythe as the team found Unknowns appearing around them.

Akarin summoned a dagger in her hands as she pointed it at the team. “Get the Princess. Leave the Guards to me,” she ordered.

Kanako smiled. “Heh~? So you really want to fight us like that. If that’s what you want, so be it.” She looked over at Tomoko and noticed she was slightly shaking when the Unknowns got closer. “Hime. Think of this as training. You want to surpass us, don’t you? Think of it like that.”

Tomoko tightly gripped her scythe. “O-okay…” She took in a deep breath to calm down. She exhaled before her eyes turned gold. “I’m ready.”

The Fire Mage smiled. “Let’s go!” The Guards charged at their friend as Tomoko charged at the Unknowns.

 _“Training… I have to think of this as training… I can’t be scared… I can’t be scared!”_ She swung her weapon, creating a large disk of energy that sliced through some of them. She stopped. _“I… I did it…”_ She looked back to find other Unknowns. Her eyes glowed brighter before she charged.

~

Akarin raised her daggers to block Kanako’s sword. She kicked the Fire Mage in the stomach before dodging a punch from Momoka.

“Akarin! Get a hold of yourself!” Momoka shouted before grabbing the side of the taller girl’s shirt. She soon threw her, making her hit a wall of vines that soon wrapped around her. “Don’t you know who you’re fighting?!”

Akarin scowled before a swarm of icicles cut her loose. They soon charged at Momoka until a pink and purple barrier stopped them. “Stop being so stubborn!” Reni shouted before swinging her sword, only to miss when the Water Mage side-stepped. She stopped before swinging again, her sword now made of dark clouds that wrapped around the girl. “You were always the one that hides your tears until we can’t see! At least tell us before this happened to you!” She was kicked in the stomach, knocking her back.

“Reni!” Aarin looked at Akarin before holding out her wand. Pink streams of light appeared before grabbing hold of the girl. “You were always like an older sister to us even though you weren’t the oldest! Why can’t you remember that when we’re fighting?!”

Akarin broke through the restraints before charging. A large frying pan appeared to block her. “Just remember everything, already!” Shiorin shouted. “Our first Christmas concert! Kaitou reaching 1st place in Oricon! Kouhaku! Why can’t you remember?!” She was kicked back and knocked into Aarin who caught her. “Akarin!”

Kanako got up, her eyes glowing as she readied her sword. She charged before swinging, Akarin’s daggers blocking her attack again. “It was our fault… We shouldn’t have left you alone when we left… We shouldn’t have let you leave MomoClo feeling like that… But… WE SHOULDN’T HAVE THOUGHT YOU WERE ALWAYS OKAY!” Flames surrounded her sword, melting the daggers before she pushed Akarin back.

The Water Mage rolled on the ground before landing on her back. Rocks rose from the ground to trap her hands and feet, making her struggle.

Kanako pinned her shoulders down, tears in her eyes. “Akarin… Do you remember when we first met…? You showed up one day to help us with the flyers while we were busy performing… We went to go have lunch together… Just the two of us… Why can’t you remember us…? Why can’t you see you’re fighting your friends…? Just why…? Hime is trying hard to fight for you, too… We were all so shocked and scared when we saw you like this… Just please…. Come back to us, Akarin… Just come back, Ayane…” Tears started to fall.

 _Egao to utagoe de… Akari wo terashi dase_  
Ikuze… Let’s go…  
Akarin no haato wo nerai uchi   
Imamade arigato ne…  
Anata ga daisuki desu…  
Zutto zutto  
Rokunin no omoide wasurenai

“Akarin… Please… Just wake up…”

Akarin looked at the girl, the Fire Mage’s tears falling on her face as she heard her words. “Kana…ko…?”

Kanako looked at her. “Akarin…?”

“Kana…ko…?”

Kanako couldn’t help but to smile. “Akarin… You woke up…” She looked at the others. “She woke up…”

The four couldn’t help but to smile as Tomoko ran up to them after finishing the rest of the Unknowns. “Aya-neechan…”

Reni ran up to the two before looking into Akarin’s eyes. She softly smiled before looking at her leader. “It’s just enough.” She looked back at Akarin. “Akarin. Just sit tight, okay? It won’t take long.”

She leaned in before giving the Water Mage a soft kiss. Dark auras surrounded the two of them but Akarin’s started to turn blue in color. The Water Mage’s clothes turned back into her hoodie and jeans as her hair grew back to its usual length. Reni slowly pulled away as the dark energy gathered into a small orb. She took hold of it before looking at the girl, a small smile on her face. “This should take care of it, Akarin.” She looked over at Aarin before throwing the orb at her, only to have the Wind Mage destroy it with a small beam. The others soon rushed over, surrounding Akarin who was freed of her restrains as they turned back to their usual selves.

Tomoko’s eyes turned gold as she rested a hand on Akarin’s forehead, creating a soft gold aura around the older Mage as her wounds healed. They all noticed the girl started to stir before her eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times before looking around, only to find the six. Her hand went to her head. “What happened…?”

Kanako softly laughed. “It’s a long story. But you’re back.”

“Back…? From where?”

“Let’s head back to Tomoko’s house before we say anything else. But welcome back.”

Akarin looked at them, confused of their behavior.


	12. Welcome Back

Tomoko carefully poured the tea as the seven were at the Hamasaki household. Akarin looked at her warily. “Kanako… Why does she look familiar…?” she muttered.

“Hehe… That’s what we meant by a long story,” Kanako said as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “But have some tea and cookies. You need to replenish your energy after what happened.”

“I really have no idea what you’re saying, but if you’re going to tell me, I might as well oblige.” She took hold of a sugar cookie before biting into it. “But I want a full explanation.”

“Why don’t we start off short and simple before going into details?” Reni suggested. “Akarin. The six of us used to be these elite soldiers in this ancient kingdom called Eutopolis. Tomoko here is the princess of that kingdom and the one we swore to protect. All six of us use Magic to fight.”

Akarin choked a little on her tea as she coughed. “M-Magic? Princess?! Slow down!” she said with her hand held out.

“Well it is the simplest way of explaining it,” Aarin said with a pout. “But it is true. You’ve been seeing and hearing things for the past few weeks, weren’t you? The five of us were there and we called you ‘Ayane’ instead of ‘Akarin’. Those were memories of our past life as the Royal Guards of Eutopolis.”

“Past life? That’s what those weird things were?”

“In a sense. We only avoided telling you about it when we first found out because we didn’t want to put you into danger. But things happened and it couldn’t be helped.”

“I see… I think…” The Water Mage scratched her head as she tried to process everything. She soon spotted her pendant attached to a bracelet wrapped around her wrist. “Hm? This…?” Her eyes glowed.

_“Here. This can help you keep your Magic in check. Make sure to keep it with you, okay?”_

_“Uwo~ So you got a sapphire~ Now the set is complete!”_

_“I guess…”_

Akarin rubbed her eyes and looked back at her pendant. “What the…?”

“Akarin? Did you see something?” Reni asked.

“I think so… Something about this keeping my Magic in check and completing a set.”

“Well you’re not wrong,” Shiorin teased before taking off her hairtie that had her amber pendant. The others took out their pendants as well. “We told you yesterday. Hime and Ryo gave us these a about two weeks ago. Those visions are memories of our past life where we served as Tomoko’s Guards.”

“Ah… This is too confusing…” Akarin moaned as she covered her face.

“We’re really sorry for the trouble, Akarin-san,” Tomoko said,” Even I couldn’t believe Ryo-san when I had amnesia. We really didn’t mean to trouble you.”

“I-it’s fine… Besides. I didn’t tell anyone until it got really bad. But what was that? I got a call from Kanako asking to meet up but I don’t remember ever leaving my house and Kanako was on top of me when I woke up.”

“It’s a really long and complicated story,” Kanako said sheepishly as she waved her hands. “But it’s probably better to explain it when you remember more of the past.”

“That makes it sound even worse,” the Water Mage deadpanned.

“Does it?”

Akarin slammed her hands against her legs. “Just tell me. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“You’re quite persistent on that,” Reni sighed. “Okay, but we might as well start from the beginning. It will make more sense if you know everything.”

~~

Dorgon looked at the cloud that showed him the battle. “Hmm… So the Royal Guards were able to snap their friend out of my control enough to bring her back. Even the Dark Mage being able to use the Spell.” He leaned back in his chair. “Looks like I have underestimated them.” He smirked. “But this makes it very interesting.”

~~

“So there was an ancient kingdom where Tomoko was a Princess and we were knights that protected here, and that this huge war destroyed it and we had to send her to this time to make us better prepared for it?” Akarin asked after the five explained the whole story.

“Yep.”

“And when they got here, Tomoko had amnesia and only regained it when you guys awakened your Magic?”

“Yep.”

Akarin leaned forward as she rested her head on her hands to think. “Hmm… This definitely sounds like something from a book… Manga, even.”

“We kind of figured you wouldn’t really believe us,” Aarin said sheepishly,” Even the five of us thought they were coming right out of a book.”

“True… But it does seem reasonable considering all those visions I keep getting.” She looked over at Tomoko who was quietly drinking her tea. “And she does look familiar… I usually would have thought she might have been one of the underclassmen at my school that transferred here but I suppose not…”

“Exactly,” Reni said,” We thought she was just an awkward foreign student with a weird background. Well… It was kind of half-right.”

“Hmm… But you said something about a dragon. I don’t see him.”

The six stopped before hesitated. “Well… uh… How do we put this…?”

“Hm?”

“Akarin. You said you’ve blacked out a few times the past few days, right?” Momoka asked,” Even today, right?”

“Yea. Usually I end up back in my room even though I would be somewhere else when I black out. Why? Does this have to do with the dragon?”

“It kind of dates back to the war,” Shiorin said,” You were separated from us when we were escorting Tomoko to the portal. Somehow the enemy found you and implanted darkness into your body before you died, affecting your behavior if you ever awakened your Magic in this life. We weren’t sure when it happened but the leader found you when we didn’t notice and forced you into working for him by taking advantage of the darkness in you. A lot of things happened, especially when we found out. Ryo died fighting the Dark Syndicate since we didn’t know how to fight you.”

Akarin looked at the five in shock, unsure what to say. “S-so… All those craters in the city and all those people who died… I did that…?”

“We never said that,” Kanako said,” Those were caused by the Dark Syndicate. As for those people and Ryo… Those weren’t your fault… Even if it was, you didn’t even know what you were doing since you even fought us without hesitating.”

“But I hurt people, didn’t I? That’s bad enough.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Akarin. It was our fault for letting you be separated from us and not realizing what happened. But you should never blamed yourself for what you did with the Syndicate.”

Akarin stood up. “Kanako! Those incidents are all over the news! Sooner or later, they’ll find out it was me!”

“They won’t and they never will. Magic in untraceable here so there isn’t enough proof that showed what you did. But you shouldn’t blame yourself, Akarin. You didn’t even know what you were doing so there’s no need to blame yourself.”

“But Kanako-!”

A pair of hands took hold of the two of them, only to be Tomoko. “It’s better to calm down about this. You’re both friends, aren’t you? And we just got Aya-neechan back.”

“Tomoko…” Kanako pulled away. “S-sorry… Things just tend to get a little heated… Mostly when you’re not around.”

“Kanako-san…” Tomoko looked over at Akarin who was still hesitant about the situation. “Aya-nee- eh… A-Akarin-san? Can I ask you something?”

Akarin looked at her. “Heh?”

Tomoko took a seat. “There’s a lot about this life I don’t know about. Kanako-san and the others have told me a little but I don’t know everything. I want to know how different your life is compared to how it was in Eutopolis.”

“Wait a second. Even I don’t know a lot of that place so I can’t really see the difference.”

“I know, but can you show me how it is here? What you would do on a normal day in the city, what kind of work you do.” She looked at the others. “They can come as well. So will that be okay?”

Akarin hesitated as she looked down, unsure if she can trust herself with them.

“Why not? It’s been a while since we actually walked through the city without worries,” Reni said with a smile. “And Kawakami isn’t here to yell at us if we overspend.”

“Ah. That’s true,” Momoka said, remembering how their manager would watch whenever the group go out for fun in case of paparazzi or them getting into trouble. “Akarin. There’s still a lot of time before the sun sets. We might even be able to grab dinner, too.”

The Water Mage looked at them as they offered a smile. “You sure…?”

“Of course!” Aarin said. “Let’s go before all the good cake runs out!”

~~

Tomoko looked at the large fish-shaped pastry in her hands in awe as the seven walked through the shopping district. “They fried… a fish…?” she asked as she looked at it.

“It’s called taiyaki,” Shiorin said as she ate her own. “It has cream in the middle so it’s really good. Try it out.”

Tomoko looked at the pastry before biting into it, only to have a little bit of cream ooze from the sides. She smiled. “It’s so sweet!”

“Glad you like it.”

“You do seem like someone with a sweet tooth,” Akarin said as she shared half with Kanako. “Ah. You guys said we took care of her, right?”

“Yep. Part of our job since her parents were too busy ruling the kingdom to properly take care of her. Help strengthen our bonds rather than having the maids take care of her.”

“Hmm… So I guess you girls spoiled her with sweets.”

The five stopped, remembering how they tend to give her sweets for dessert and slip them to the Princess when no one was looking. “Even Akarin figured it out…” Reni said in defeat.

“Not so much spoil… We mostly use it to increase good behavior…” Kanako said sheepishly. “She did whine if we ran out of cookies, though…”

“I-I was still five!” Tomoko cried, her face red at the memory of her tantrum.

“Pretty sure you would have done that a year before you came to this time,” Akarin teased.

“A-Aya-neechan! I just-! I-!”

“Ah. The maids did tell us that one of your lessons with Ayane didn’t involve sweets and you whined about it,” Aarin said,” You even asked us for extra dessert.”

“A-Aira-neechan! It wasn’t like that!”

Akarin couldn’t help but to laugh. “At least I remembered some things from this.” They all looked at her and couldn’t help but to smile, glad to see their friend cheering up.

~

The seven walked out of a store after buying some clothes before continuing their stroll. They walked past what seemed to be a glass shop and Akarin stopped when she looked through the window. “Hm…?”

Tomoko went to her side. “What are you looking at, Akarin-san?” She looked to find glass charms. “Ah. Those are so cute!”

“Some of them come in sets, too,” the Water Mage said as she pointed out some that had the same patterns.

“Ah! They do!”

The two heard the bell ring and looked at the door, only to be the others walking in. Kanako smiled at the two. “Want to look around? We might be able to ask them to make some for us.”

Tomoko couldn’t help but to smile and looked at Akarin. She took hold of the older girl’s hand. “Come on!” She led her to the door so they can go in.

Many display cases were filled with sculptures and everyday items made of glass. Hanging from hooks were glass charms similar to the ones at the window. Akarin couldn’t help but to smile when she saw them looking around like children at a candy shop.

“Ah! Akarin! They accept custom designs!” Reni said when she saw a sign. “Let’s go make some!”

“Eh? S-sure.” She went to join them as they all took a blank sheet and pencils.

~

The seven lined up their designs, happy with their work. “Now we just have to submit it so they can make them,” Kanako said as she looked at her design.

It consisted of a white bear with a red clover on its left eye as small wisps of flames surrounded it. Shiorin’s had a drawing of curry rice with a spoon stuck into it with yellow rings. Aarin’s had a white bunny and pink hearts. Momoka’s had a frog in the center of a pink flower. Reni’s had her cat colored purple surrounded by lightning bolts. Akarin’s had a large snowflakes surrounded by smaller ones. And Tomoko’s had a black dragon with blue diamond-shaped stars. The seven were on small rectangular glass plates and had stripes representing the seven of them: pink, green, blue, white, red, yellow, purple.

“Looks like a complete set,” Reni said with a smile as they looked at the designs.

“Yep…” Akarin looked over the designs before she reached for her pendant. “Another set.”

They all looked at her, surprised of the comment. Kanako smiled and wrapped an arm around the tall girl. “Why not? One from Eutopolis. One from here. Something all seven of us share.”

The Water Mage softly smiled. “Yea…”

~~

Akarin smiled as she looked at the charm, having been able to pick up the set after dinner at a family restaurant. She looked at the others who were walking alongside her to the station.

“Looks like this is it,” Kanako said as they reached the entrance. “We have school tomorrow.” She smiled. “Glad to have you back, Akarin.”

Akarin let out a short laugh. “I’ve been back. But thanks. After walking around with everyone, I feel a little lighter. I might not remember much but I’m just glad not much has changed since we last saw each other.”

“Of course. But call us if anything happens. And don’t be afraid to come visit. Things will get pretty crazy now but just know we’ll be there if you need us. Tomoko, too.”

“Akarin-san. Today was really fun,” Tomoko said with a smile. “I’ll definitely remember it.”

Akarin smiled and petted the girl’s head. “Glad you like it here. Just be careful, Tomoko. They’ll be worried if anything happens.”

“I will!”

“Thanks again for today. I’ll definitely treasure it.” She took her leave as they looked on, smiles on their faces.

“Thanks for that, Hime,” Kanako said.

“Hm?”

“You’ve really grown up in a sense,” Aarin said.

“Even being able to find a way to cheer everyone up,” Momoka added.

Tomoko softly smiled before facing forward. “It was just a coincidence. But I’m glad Akarin-san is okay now. I hope we can all have a day like this again.”

Reni wrapped her arms around the girl. “We hope so, too. We just have something to take care of before we can.”

“I know. So let’s make sure we win.”

“Yea…” Reni’s eyes glowed as she stopped. _“Eh…?”_

Tomoko looked up at her, seeing the concern in the Dark Mage’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Reni blinked before shaking it off. She smiled. “It’s nothing. “Let’s go home. You can stay at my place tonight. Mama and Papa won’t mind and you shouldn’t stay home alone.”

“Eh? Okay.”

The others looked at their comrade worriedly, seeing her sudden change in behavior. _“Reni. Tell us in the morning,”_ Kanako said telepathically.

_“I will.”_


	13. The Prophecy

_“It can’t be…”_

_“Hime will…?”_

_“Igarashi-sama. Ono-sama. I beg of you. Do not tell Hime-sama. It will break her fragile little heart if she is to ever find out.”_

_“You’re lying! That can’t happen! It shouldn’t happen!”_

_“Kimiko… But it does make sense… You remember the day Hime’s weapon changed, don’t you? You know what Eutopolian lore says about that.”_

_“Well we still can’t let that happen! Not this soon!”_

Reni’s eyes snapped open as she breathed heavily. _“That memory again…”_ She sat up as her hand went to her head. _“Of all times… Why is it coming back now…?”_ She looked at the clock. _“Two in the morning…”_ She carefully got out of bed before making her way to the kitchen, only to find Tomoko there as well with a glass of water. “Tomoko…”

The small Princess turned. “Ah. Reni-san. Sorry if I scared you… I couldn’t sleep…”

“It’s fine.” She went into the cabinet to take out a glass before getting herself a cup of water. “I couldn’t sleep as well… Had a weird nightmare.”

“M-me, too…”

Reni looked at her. “What did you dream about?”

“About the day you sent me to this time… But every time I dream about it, it gets worse… Sometimes I see Akarin-san dying when we were separated… Sometimes you die… Sometime I see Dorgon in the room with us… But sometimes I have nightmares about Ryo-san…”

Reni put down her glass before pulling the girl into a hug. “Please forgive us for that, Hime… There was just so much going on that we didn’t want you to go through… We just didn’t realize that it would make you feel this way…”

“It’s fine… You had a reason to…” She tightly hugged the Dark Mage. “Just don’t do that again… Please…”

“We won’t… We promise…” Reni’s eyes lowered in worry. _“I have to tell the others soon… Otherwise Hime… Hime will die…”_

~~

Tomoko let out a soft yawn as the six walked to school. “You okay, Hime?” Momoka asked from beside her.

“I’m fine… I couldn’t sleep last night…”

“Reni. Did something happen?” Kanako asked as she looked at her older comrade.

“Apparently she had a nightmare and I found her awake in the kitchen in the middle of the night. I had her stay in my room for the rest of the night but I couldn’t sleep so I left the TV on. I guess she couldn’t sleep because of the nightmare.” The Dark Mage sighed. “Just when things started to calm down, too.”

“Hm?”

Reni looked at Tomoko who was too preoccupied keeping herself awake to notice. Her eyes glowed, making the others feel the telepathic connection. _“We have to talk, but we can’t let Hime know.”_

_“What do you mean?” The Fire Mage became worried._

_“I had a nightmare last night as well. Not much of a nightmare but more of a memory. It said something about Hime and some kind of prophecy we have to avoid.”_

_“Prophecy?”_ Aarin asked, the word ringing through her head. _“Reni… Do you mean-?”_

_“Yea… The one we saw at the Grand Shrine the day before the war. We have to protect Hime.”_

They all looked at her worriedly, seeing the tense expression on her face as she recalled the memory. “Reni…”

“Hm…. Is something wrong…?” Tomoko asked sleepily.

“It’s nothing,” Reni said,” We’ll talk about it after school.”

“Eh? After school? We can’t talk about it at lunch?”

“E-eh… Ah! We promised some of the girls in class to have lunch with them, remember?” Aarin said sheepishly. “They want to know more about you so having lunch with them will help.”

“Eh? We did?”

“Y-yea. The shock from the weekend must have made you forget.”

“O-okay…”

They all let out a sigh without letting their Princess hear, not wanting her to worry so much about them.

~~

“Leave it to Aarin to distract Hime,” Reni sighed as the remaining four were on the roof. “I’ll probably have to explain it to her when I get the chance.”

“Yea… But what did you mean by prophecy?” Shiorin asked as she ate her lunch.

Reni hesitantly bit her lower lip. “Promise you won’t get mad?”

“That makes it sound worse,” Momoka said with a pout.

The Dark Mage took in a deep breath before letting it out. “Okay…” She put her lunch to the side before standing up. She went towards the center as her eyes glowed, her sword in her hands. “ _Thea-sama. Answer my prayers as we ask for your vision of our future. Reveal your answer through this sword_ ,” she chanted. She dug her sword into the concrete, only to have sparks spread to form what seems to be a large painting on the top of the roof.

The others quickly stood up when they saw the full picture. One that showed the war between Eutopolis and the Dark Syndicate. Dorgon on the left and the Guards on the right. In the center seemed to be Kanako tightly holding onto a dying Tomoko as the Crown floated above them.

“It can’t be…” Kanako muttered. “Hime… Hime is going to die?”

Reni took out her sword, making it disappear as well as the painting. “Hime had a nightmare about the war two nights before it happened. Aarin and I visited the Grand Shrine since it was reacting to her and the Head Priest showed us that painting… He made us swear not to tell Hime since she’s still a child and not strong enough to take in such information, especially about her death.” Her hands tightly clenched into fists as tears formed in her eyes. “The two of us had to tell you and that was the reason why we sent her through the portal. To delay her death and to make sure the Dark Syndicate is defeated before that can happen…”

“I-it can’t be! We swore to protect Hime!” Momoka cried,” We’d rather risk our lives than let her die!”

“But it makes sense!” Reni snapped as she turned to face them. “You said it yourself, Momoka! The day Hime’s staff turned into a scythe… We all knew Eutopolis will fall into ruins and something was going to happen to Hime! You know everything decided by the Crown is absolute!”

“So why did we send Hime here if it’s going to happen, anyway…? Hime lost her memories and has nightmares of what happened!”

Kanako looked at the two and saw the tribal markings slowly appearing. She quickly went between them. “Calm down, you two. We can’t afford you two going berserk on one another.”

The two looked at her before stepping back, the marks disappearing. Kanako sighed before looking at Momoka. “Momoka. The reason we sent Hime because we weren’t strong enough to protect her from an army of Unknowns. We might not be as strong as we were before but we can properly protect her and know of the situation now. If Hime died with us back in Eutopolis, Dorgon would have taken the Crown and who knows what could have happened to Earth when it’s in his hands. It was the only way to make sure she’s safe.”

“But Kanako-!”

“But nothing. We only have this one chance now, Momoka. We have to make sure Hime doesn’t die.”

“Kanako… But the Crown-!”

“Is absolute. I know,” the Fire Mage said, cutting off Reni who spoke in protest. “But we have to find a way around it.”

“Kanako…”

“Besides, what choice do we have? We can’t let her die. Not after everything she’s done for us. She was the reason why we stayed together as the Royal Guards. No matter what the challenge is, we have to protect her.”

The three looked at their leader in worry, seeing how serious she is about breaking a prophecy.

~~

“So… it is that one…” Aarin murmured as she met up with Shiorin in the hallway during one of their breaks. “To think it would be soon…”

“So you remember, too?”

“Not the whole thing but I do remember hearing of that prophecy… A great war falling onto our peaceful kingdom, taking everything with it. Even the Crown…” Her eyes lowered. “Hime doesn’t have a clue about it since we had to keep it secret… As if we’re keeping enough secrets from her…”

“Yea… But given the situation, we’ll have no choice but to fight another war if you remember it now… Even if it might just be the five of us…”

The Wind Mage gave a solemn nod. “We can’t have Akarin involved. Not when she doesn’t remember anything…”

“We can’t lose her again, especially since we just got her back yesterday. And we can’t lose Hime… We just have to find a way to stop this war and make sure she grows up properly in this life.”

“Yea…”

~~

Tomoko looked up at the sky as she swept the pathway between the middle and high school. She noticed the dark clouds coming in. “Rain…” She tightly held onto the broom. “Nothing good ever comes out of it… Please… let us be safe…”

~~

The five waited at the front gates as they waited for their Princess, seeing how she’s on cleaning duty.

“So what should we do? The war is coming closer,” Reni said.

Kanako looked down, her hands tightly gripping the straps of her bag. “We just have to keep an eye on Hime… Find ways to keep her away from the battle to prevent her death…”

“Will we really be able to avoid it?”

“I don’t know… But it doesn’t mean we can’t try…”

The five stood there until Shiorin’s foot slightly shifted and Aarin’s ears perked. They turned to find a figure running to them. “Akarin?” Aarin murmured, recognizing the aura.

The Water Mage stopped next to them, out of breath from the run. “Looks like I made it on time…” she panted.

“Akarin, you shouldn’t be here,” Kanako said. “It’s too dangerous to be in Hachiban right now.”

“I know… But I have to tell you… It’s important…” She straightened herself to look at them. “A storm is coming… A big one…”

“Eh? O-of course we knew,” Reni said,” The news have been warning everyone to get home as soon as possible before the rain hits.”

“I didn’t mean the rain. Sure it involves the rain but I didn’t mean that. The rain already hit my area and it told me everything. The war is going to start sooner than we would expect.”

“Eh?” They looked at her. “You remembered?”

“A little but Tomoko is going to be in danger. Especially right now if we don’t act. Where is she?”

“Sh-she’s on cleaning duty today,” Momoka said,” We’re waiting for her to finish.”

“Eh? B-but we have to hurry! Before something happens!”

“Heh?”

Reni’s eyes glowed as she turned, only to find beams of dark energy going towards them. “Aarin!”

The two’s eyes glowed as they started to create barriers. A large one made of gold energy appeared around the school and the Guards, absorbing the beams before disappearing. “What?!”

They looked at the school to find Tomoko on top of the middle school roof in her Magus form, her eyes gold in color. “Hime!” They quickly ran towards her, transforming before jumping onto the roof.

“Hime! You okay?!” Kanako cried.

The girl ignored them as she looked at Dorgon who flew above them. “Just to expect from the Dark Syndicate. Always attacking my children when they least expect it,” she said, her voice lower and warped.

“So the Crown finally shows herself after all this time,” Dorgon sneered,” Just wanted to say hello to my lost pet.” He looked over at Akarin who stepped back a bit, tightly holding onto her daggers. “I really do want her back after all she’s done for me.”

“You have no right to touch them. And you cannot cause trouble to those not involved in that war.”

“Is that so? Coming from the one who abandoned her kingdom.”

“I may have left Eutopolis but I’m highly sure this war will end today. But I prefer not to have innocents involved in this battle.”

The Dark Syndicate leader smirked. “Have it your way.” He swung his sword at a tree, setting it ablaze. “Come back when the flames on this tree burned out. We’ll settle this.” Dark energy swirled around him before he disappeared.

“That bastard…” Shiorin muttered.

“But why…? Why did the Crown surface now…?” Momoka asked quietly,” It knows what’s going to happen, doesn’t it?”

“That’s the problem…” Akarin murmured.

Reni soon found Tomoko falling back as her eyes turned back to normal. “Hime!” She ran over to her to catch the girl who lost consciousness, her clothes turning back to her uniform. “Hime!”

Tomoko’s eyes slowly opened and she looked up at the Dark Mage. “Reni-san…? What happened…?”

Reni sighed when she found the girl unhurt. “We’ll explain it to you later. We have to get out of here before people notice.”

“Eh…?”


	14. The War That Ends It All

_“We interrupt this program with breaking news. Not too long ago, people have claimed to have seen these strange beams of light. As you can see, no one is able to figure out where they have come from. Due to it attacking a school, the director has shut it down for investigations. People in the area claimed to have seen seven people in costume on the school roof that quickly disappeared. A tree on school grounds has also been set ablaze and firefighters struggle to put it out, claiming that nothing can stop it and hope it does not spread to surrounding areas. We advise all residents to stay home safe and away from both the storm and the school until further notice.”_

Akarin turned off the TV as she sighed. “Looks like we can’t escape it… We have to end this soon.”

“Well it’s just the six of us against an entire army…” Kanako sighed. After what happened, the team decided to flee towards the Hamasaki house to plan out what to do for the upcoming battle.

She looked at Tomoko who was still recovering from what happened after the others told her. “So the Crown took over me to approach Dorgon…?” the Princess asked.

“Apparently… We didn’t expect such a thing to happen, especially now,” Shiorin said,” But it’s fine. No one got hurt when he attacked. We just have to figure out how to end this battle as soon as possible before people get hurt.”

“So is the war really starting again…?”

“Unfortunately, it is. But don’t worry so much. We’re going to defeat Dorgon and put an end to this war. Trust us.”

“Okay… But let me fight, too.”

“We can’t, Hime. The Dark Syndicate is after your life and the Crown. It’s too risky,” Aarin said. “We know you’re worried and want to help but we just can’t lose you.”

“Then what about you?”

“We swore an oath to keep you safe, even if the enemy is us,” Momoka said as she rested her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

Tomoko pulled away. “You’re always talking about that oath… That oath was broken when you died… Why can’t you forget it and let me help…? You trusted me when we were getting Akarin-san back… Why not now…?”

“Yesterday was different. This is war, Hime. There will be so many more Unknowns than you can handle. And you’re still inexperienced. Once they see an opening, Dorgon will take you away from us. You have to trust us.”

“But…”

Kanako rested a hand on Tomoko’s shoulder. “Hime. Let’s talk in private. Just between us.”

“Kanako-san…”

~

The two stood in the hallway as the others were in the living room to wait. “Hime. You remember your first melee lesson, don’t you?” Kanako asked,” You were so stubborn that day. Saying things like you don’t need training because we’ll protect you all the time. Ran had to convince you how important it was and you still complained since we were stronger than you. I really wondered how you changed so much over the years to make you want to fight alongside us. But I do have to apologize when I slapped you and yelled at you. I was angry when you started to speak out against us like that and was still upset about Akarin. But I understand how I feel… You were always worried about us, especially that incident with the Anti-Mage when you were younger. Scared to lose us and wanting to become stronger to protect us. But hear me out, Hime. Everything that we did, even in this life, is all for your sake. You’re too important to us.”

“Kanako-san… But why…? Why won’t you let me fight with you…?”

“You’ll learn when you’re ready. I promise.” She held out her arms. “Why don’t we have a hug before we leave? You’re always clinging onto Ran or Aira back home.”

Tomoko hesitated. “O-okay… But just this once. And I’ve hugged you plenty of times.” She went to go hug the Fire Mage, only to find the door behind her friend open up and be pushed into a closet. “K-Kanako-san?!”

Kanako looked away as the Princess saw the pain in the girls’ eyes. “Forgive me, Hime… But this is for your sake…” She closed the door and locked it.

“Kanako-san!” Tomoko ran to the door and tried to open it, only for it to not budge. “Kanako-san! Let me out! Please! Kanako-san!”

Kanako heard the girl’s cries as tears formed. “Please forgive me… We just want you to live…” She rested her hands on the door as a barrier appeared, blocking the Princess’s screams. She quickly wiped away her tears before making her way to the living room, only to find Reni at the end of the hallway. “Reni…” She looked away. “You saw?”

“I saw…” She went to her leader before smacking her. “What’s wrong with you…? Doing this to Hime and not telling us? You really never changed, Kanako.”

Kanako refused to look at her friend. “I’m sorry but I didn’t have a choice…” Her hands tightly clenched into fists as she looked at the older girl. “This is to make sure Hime doesn’t die.”

“How? You know the Crown is absolute.”

“Maybe but there’s most likely a way to prevent Hime’s death.”

Reni looked at her, realizing her leader’s words. She summoned a soundproof barrier. “Kanako… You can’t be thinking like that! What will your family say? What will all of Stardust or the fans say? What will the others say when we find you dead on the battle field?!” She grabbed the Fire Mage’s shoulders. “You have a life here! Not just as an idol but as a person! You can’t just give it all up to prevent a prophecy! There’s going to be a way to save Hime and having you killed isn’t it!”

Kanako pushed her hands away. “What choice do I have? It’s my job as leader as make the decisions and making sure everyone is safe. You, Tamai, Aarin, Momoka, Akarin. And Hime. We already lost Ryo. I can’t lose you guys.”

“Then what about you?”

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me. But just take care of Hime. Promise me that.”

Reni looked at her before pulling her into a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You’re such an idiot…”

“I know… But that’s why I’m leader, right?”

~

Momoka quickly helped Akarin stretch as Aarin split a cream puff in half before handing the second half to Shiorin. “They’re taking a while…” Shiorin murmured before biting into the treat. “Even Reni went to go follow them.”

“Do we have enough time…?” Momoka asked worriedly. “The fire might burn out soon.”

“That’s why I’m worried…”

“We’re kind of the worst, aren’t we…? Keeping so many secrets from Hime…” Aarin muttered as she took a seat on the couch. “We all had a past before we were called for duty yet we never told her even when she asked. There are a lot of things the King and Queen told us we’re not allowed to tell her as well… And then this prophecy… Are we really her Guards if we’re keeping so much from her?”

“Don’t say that,” Akarin said,” Tomoko trusts us enough to understand why we keep them secret. Not to mention they’re too hard for her to understand for her age… We just have to tell her everything when the time’s right for her.”

“For her or for us? We might not remember our past right now but they were definitely bad enough for us to keep it secret from her.”

“Well…”

Footsteps were heard as Kanako and Reni came in from the hallway. “Eh? Where’s Hime?” Momoka asked, seeing how their Princess isn’t present.

“E-eh… We decided to put her to sleep… So she can get her mind off of it,” Kanako said sheepishly. “Sorry for keeping you waiting. Hime was just struggling until Reni came. Right, Reni?”

“Y-yea… Sorry about that…”

The four looked at her worriedly but Akarin became a little suspicious.

“Eh… Come on. The fire is about to burn out. Can’t keep the Dark Syndicate waiting.” The Fire Mage started to make her leave. “Come on!”

The others couldn’t help but to follow and Akarin couldn’t help but to notice Reni slowly trailing behind. “Reni. Come on. We have to end it.”

The Dark Mage looked at her. “S-sorry.” The two quickly followed the others, closing the door behind them.

~~

The six stood in front of the school as they looked on at the Unknowns hidden but waiting to strike. Loud claps of thunder were heard as it started to rain. They found Dorgon on top of the high school waiting for them as more Unknowns flanked him.

“Girls. No matter what happens, the six of us will survive and put a stop to this war,” Kanako said,” Just make sure nothing happens. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Kanako smiled as she brought out her pendant and the others followed suit.

**_“Henshin! Magus Mode!”_ **

Bright light surrounded the six of them as they transformed.

_“It was nice… Being able to spend a lot of time with everyone…”_

_“What’s with that all of a sudden, Aarin? You sound like we’re all going to die.”_

_“But… someone will…”_

_“Cheer up, Momoka. Maybe the prophecy will be wrong. Right, Reni?”_

_“Y-yea… Maybe…”_

_“No time to waste… Let’s go!”_

The six struck a final pose as they brought out their weapons. What they noticed different about Akarin was that her hair grew longer as it was pulled up into a curled up-do and her camisole became a lighter shade. Most of her chains disappeared and were replaced with thin gold chains around her waist and blue bracelets made of ice crystals were around her wrists, an aquamarine pendant visible on her right wrist.

“Looks like a final confrontation before one side gets the Crown,” Dorgon said as he looked down at them. “But it’s best to hand her over since we all know who the victor will be.”

“You won’t get your hands on her!” Kanako said,” You might’ve tried to take away our trusted comrade but now she doesn’t work for you anymore!”

“That may be true but don’t you remember what happened back in Eutopolis? You all lost and the Crown was free to take as long as that dragon was gone and you were separated from her.”

“Don’t underestimate us, Dorgon,” Shiorin scowled,” We’re more powerful than you think!”

“Then why don’t you prove it?”

Several Unknowns flew out from the school buildings as they charged at the six through the air and on foot. “Momoka! Aarin! Take the ones in the air! Everyone else! On the ground!” Kanako ordered as flames surrounded her weapon

“Kanako wa?” Akarin asked as Momoka and Aarin flew off to fight.

“I’ll be on the ground for now. Let’s go.”

Akarin gave a nod before the four charged.

Aarin twirled her Heart Wand as she summoned powerful winds that wrapped around the flying Unknowns. “Momoka!”

Momoka charged at the Unknowns before punching one square in the face, making him disappear. Thorns soon came out of her gloves before she attacked the others. Aarin released a few energy beams to help out her friend to prevent her from tiring herself out.

~

Reni’s sword shortened into a dagger with a violet blade as she held onto the handle with both hands, the blade pointing at the ground below her. “Shiorin! Cover for me!”

“Got it!” Shiorin jumped off her shoulders as she ate a tablet, allowing her to create a giant spoon. Reni closed her eyes as she started to chant, causing a ring to form at her feet with a strange design within. Shiorin took the chance and charged at an Unknown who jumped at the Mage. Her spoon started to glow as she swung, knocking it away before disappearing. She soon dug it into the ground before lifting thick slabs of concrete into the air. “Eat this!” She swung her weapon as she catapulted the concrete at the Unknowns, crushing them from the weight.

The Earth Mage soon noticed a bright glow coming from the ground to find the same design that’s under Reni’s feet. “She’s using this spell…?” She quickly ran to get out of the ring.

“ **Summon!** ” Reni’s eyes snapped open as a strange snake-like beast emerged from the ground, swallowing the Unknowns in its path before submerging into the ground. Reni sighed before hearing a growl. She turned to find an Unknown leaping towards her.  
“Watch out!” A large butcher knife appeared and cut the Unknown in half, destroying it instantly. Reni turned to find Shiorin. “Pay attention to your surroundings better,” the younger girl chided as she twirled her knives.

“Shiorin…”

“Let’s take care of the others.”

Reni gave a small nod before her dagger changed back into a sword.

~

Kanako and Akarin stood back to back as they were surrounded by Unknowns. “Kanako… You’re planning something, aren’t you?” Akarin asked as she summoned icicles under her feet.

“You know me too well, Akarin.”

“You’re always the crazy leader with your plans.”

“So you’re going to stop me?”

Akarin smirked. “The only ones stopping you are these idiots. But I won’t let you do this… I won’t forgive you if you go through with it.”

“If you want to join, I’ll see you at Eutopolis.” Kanako’s ponytail flared up with her sword as she charged. Her eyes glowed as she swung her blade, encasing a group of Unknowns in fire before slashing at those still standing.

“You sure are our idiot leader, Kanako. Starting so soon.” Akarin’s eyes glowed as more icicles appeared under her. The Unknowns growled and charged.

Akarin thrust her fists forward as the icicles under her flew at the Unknowns, impaling them at different points before going on to others charging. She looked back to find others lunging at her. She summoned her daggers before slashing at them, encasing them in ice before the Unknowns disappeared. Her eyes turned a darker shade before water started to seep through the cracks on the ground, creating geysers that sent the Unknowns into the air. The geysers soon froze as icicles came out of them, destroying those caught by the geysers.

 

“ ** _Shoukyaku!_** ” Dorgon jumped away from the dragon of flames as he looked down to find Kanako.

“Shouldn’t you be waiting for your friends to help you, Fire Mage?” Dorgon sneered as he summoned a twisted black sword.

“This ends now, Dorgon! I won’t let you touch her!”

“If that’s what you think is a challenge, then I accept.” Dorgon charged at the girl and slashed at the girl, only to have the blade hit the ground when the Fire Mage jumped away.

The two exchanged blows as they tried to find an opening.

“Kanako!” The others held back the Unknowns as they found their Leader fighting Dorgon. “Kanako!”

Kanako ignored their calls as she slashed at Dorgon, making him block the blow as she kicked him in the chest, making him fall back a few steps.

_“I must be that pathetic, huh…? Locking Hime in a closet just so she doesn’t have to fight the ones who destroyed her home and killed those dear to her… Even letting myself fight on my own while the others are distracted by the Unknowns so I can end everything for some stupid prophecy… Hopefully I’ll see them again… Probably make that drama come to life as an angel or something… Just to make them happy…”_

_“Kanako-san! Kanako-san!”_

_“Hime… I won’t forget you and the others… I promise…”_

Dorgon scowled as he couldn’t land a hit on the girl. His eyes started to glow black as he formed a second sword. “Say goodbye,” he said under his breath.

Reni’s eyes glowed as she found the sword. “Kanako!”

Kanako blocked Dorgon’s first blow but turned when she heard Reni’s call. She soon found Dorgon swinging his second sword at her. She closed her eyes.

**_“KANAKO!”_ **


	15. Out Last Speech

Kanako blocked Dorgon’s first blow but turned when she heard Reni’s call. She soon found Dorgon swinging his second sword at her. She closed her eyes.

**_“KANAKO!”_ **

The five guards stood there in shock as Dorgon’s sword went through. “I-it can’t be…” Momoka muttered as her wings started to give out and she landed on the ground. “It can’t be…”

Kanako slowly opened her eyes to find herself on the ground. She didn’t feel any pain and looked up, only to find a black blade dripping with blood as standing in front of her was a familiar Mage in a blue cloak, blood staining the garment as a crown fell to the ground in pieces. “Hi…me…?”

Dorgon pulled back his sword as he stepped back. “It can’t be… She couldn’t have!”

Tomoko fell back as Kanako quickly got up to catch her. “Hime! Hime! Why…? HIME!” Tears started to fall as Kanako held on to the Princess.

“Hime… No… NO!” Aarin screamed as she fell to her knees when she landed on the ground. “HIME!”

“Hime…” Shiorin lost her grip as her weapons clattered onto the ground. “Why did she…?”

Reni tightly gripped her sword, tears streaming down her cheeks as purple lightning-shapped tribal marks appeared on her skin. “Why…? Of all things… HOW CAN YOU DO THAT TO HIME?!” she screamed before charging at Dorgon. She swung her sword, cutting him in half.

“I… lost… her…” He disappeared in black smoke.

Reni fell to her knees as she let the tears fall and started to sob, her tribal markings disappearing. “Hime…”

“Why…? Even when I tried to protect you from all this…” Kanako whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Why did you save me…?”

Tomoko weakly looked up at the girl, tears freely falling as she gently smiled. “Kanako-san… Even though you all wanted nothing but my safety… I knew I had to do something… I overheard you talking to Reni-san about and… having you sacrifice yourself would bring more pain to others than having me die… Once you locked me in the closet… I wanted nothing but to get out and save you from that death… You have a life in this time while I don’t… You deserve to live in the present more than I do…” Bright light surrounded her as she changed back to her school uniform. “Please promise me… Please live for my sake…” The girl started to glow and Kanako noticed she was disappearing.

“Hime! You can still live! You can’t die now! HIME!”

Akarin heard something and looked around to find the Unknowns disappearing as they seeped into the ground. “They’re dying…?”

“As long as the Crown isn’t used… the Unknowns won’t exist… Please take care of everyone…”

Kanako tightly held onto the girl. “NO! You can’t leave us like this, Hime! We promised we would take care of you as long as we live! You can’t die!”

Tomoko gently held the Fire Mage. “It’ll be fine… We’ll see each other again someday… Maybe at one of your concerts… But thank you… for everything… I have to go… Ryo-san is waiting for me… This is goodbye…”

Kanako soon felt nothing but air between her arms as she pulled back to find bubbles. She looked at her hands to find Tomoko’s pendant and glass charm. “Hime…” She held the two items close as she cried.

Akarin looked away as she failed to hold back her tears. Aarin covered her ears as she shook her head, unable to believe the turn of events.

“Hime…” Momoka curled up into a ball as she covered her eyes to hide the tears.

Shiorin collapsed to her hands and knees as tears started to fall. Reni wiped her eyes and looked at Kanako before back at the ground, tears staining the concrete below her.

~~

_December 24th, 2014. Three months after the war._

_[Sora no Curtain]_

“You girls sure you want to be dropped off here?” Kawakami asked as he stopped the van in front of the abandoned school. “It’s dangerous.”

“We’re fine, Kawakami,” Kanako said,” We just want to be here for a little bit and home is just a walk away.”

“If you say so. Just call us if you girls need anything. And rest up since we have Day 2 tomorrow for Christmas.”

“We will.” The five got out of the white van before it drove off. Akarin peeked out from the fence, having been waiting for them.

“Welcome back,” she said with a smile.

“Sorry for the wait!” Reni said as she tackled the older girl in a hug. “How was Kuri~? Did you like it? Did you?”

“Of course I liked it. Very MomoClo-like.” She softly laughed. “You’re going to crush the flowers.”

“Ah! Sorry!” Reni let go before they all lined up at the gate to look at the school.

“It’s really been three months, hasn’t it?” Aarin asked with a sigh.

“Kind of wished the war didn’t happen until after Kuri…” Kanako murmured. “Hime would have been able to see us work.”

“Yea…”

After the battle at the school, the damages were too much to keep it running so it was shut down. Fundraisers were started to pay for repairs and the decision of having it reopen was still undecided. All students had to transfer to schools in neighboring areas. The Royal Guards ended up transferring to Akarin’s school two districts over by orders of their manager despite the fact the five aren’t exactly allowed to have too much contact with the Water Mage due to her contract. But it had to be done due to investigations that took place ever since Unknowns first started to appear. The six were brought in for questioning after everything that happened due to how much damage their battles brought to the city. After some Manipulation Spells and negotiations, the girls were left off the hook and continued their ways. Tomoko and Ryo’s house was taken by the police when the two went missing as well as their belongings. The information they forged also disappeared, turning them into unknown citizens and forcing the police to drop the case. No further questions were asked about them as if they never existed.

The six jumped over the fence before going to where Tomoko was last seen. Akarin rested the bouquet on the spot and Reni placed a small plush panda next to it. “Happy Birthday, Hime. Sorry we couldn’t celebrate it like we wanted to. But don’t worry so much about us. We’re doing just fine.” She stood up before standing with the others.

“Hime. It’s pretty late today but we can still this one song for you,” Kanako said,” Please enjoy it.”

 _Keitai wo ijitte wa_  
Tashikameau ashita wo  
Fuan wa yuki ni umete shimae  
"Yume wo miro genjtsu miro" docchi na no sensei?  
Shinjite hoshii yo nee

 _Ariake no tsuki ga hosoku waratteta_  
"Sayonara" no imi nante shirazu ni  
Shinzou no oto ga tokei to narande  
Watashi no hari wo ugokasu CHIKU TAKU CHIKU TAKU kyou mo

 _Sorezore no ima wo tsunagu sora no KAATEN_  
Hare nochi namida SHIGUNARU kae nagara  
Mawari mawaru yo chikyuu wa  
Samishikunai sa minna fuyu no naka

 _Omoide PYURURIRA fukiarete_  
Kokoro no sukima toki ni itamu no darou  
Naite mo ii'n da yo nigeru na  
Soko kara mieru asahi ga mirai da

 _RIN DON DAN RIN DON DAN Watashi no koe tobase_  
RIN DON DAN RIN DON DAN  
Otona ni naru mae ni motto waraitai  
WAKU WAKU shite itai yume wo kanaetai

 _Tosho shitsu ni naranda kotoba dake ja_  
Hontou no ita sa wa wakaranai  
Hajimari to owari wo itsu shiru darou  
Maitoshi haru wa mayowazu kite kureru no ni  
Kousaten de docchi ni ikeba GOORU nan darou  
Daijoubu sa ikidomari sontokya   
Hikikaeshite mata hajimereba ii

 _Ikutsu mono fuyu wo tsunagu sora no KAATEN_  
Hare nochi tameiki shiroku nobotte iku  
Mawari mawaru yo chikyuu wa   
Shinpainai sa susume kimi wa kimi

 _Omoide PYURURIRA fukiarete_  
Kokoro no sukima toki ni itamu no daro  
Naite mo ii'n da yo nigeru na  
Soko kara mieru asahi ga mirai da  
Hashiri hashiru yo   
BATON nigitte watashi wa ima koko da

 _RIN DON DAN RIN DON_  
Kodou RIN DON DAN  
Fuyu ga kita

The six smiled when they finished, having already taught Akarin the song for that day. “Hime. We wish you can come see one of our concerts one day,” Kanako said, tears in her eyes. “We don’t know when we’ll ever see each other again, but we definitely do hope you can grow up with a life better than the sadness Eutopolis gave you.”

The six looked at each other before giving the spot a bow. “Happy Birthday, Hime. May the next life be prosperous.”

The six straightened themselves. “Let’s go home…” They all gave a nod before taking their leave.

_“Thank you.”_

They stopped when they heard the voice. They quickly turned back to find Tomoko in her Magus Form, smiling at them as Ryo was perched on her shoulder. “Hime…”

The girl smiled at them. _“I’ll see you again.”_ She disappeared as the Guards found tears streaming down their cheeks when they saw the girl.

“Hime…”

Kanako wiped away her tears before smiling. “ _Yosh_! Let’s head home,” she said,” Onwards to the future!”

The five looked at her before smiling. “To the sky!” they shouted before they all ran to the fence.

_[Ano Sora he Mukatte]_

Kanako quickly dashed off to school, hoping she can catch up to her friends on the way to the station.

“Kanako! The train’s almost here!” Tamai shouted as the four were at the entrance. “Don’t want to be late!”

~

“Looks like we made it,” Reni said with a sigh as the five sat in the train. “A half hour commute really messes with our usual schedule…”

“Why were you late today, Kanako?” Aarin asked.

“Ah. That’s right!” Kanako reached into her pocket to take out a folded piece of brown paper. She unfolded it before taking out the glass charms and Tomoko’s pendant. “I almost forgot these. Peach ran off with it last night so it took me a while to find it.”

“I really worry if someone will end up stealing them,” Shiorin teased before taking hold of the pendant. “Hard to believe Tomoko trusted us to take care of them. Especially since her pendant is connected to the Crown.”

“Well we don’t know when we’re ever going to see her again so it’s probably best to keep it safe,” Momoka said with a soft smile. “She does trust us.”

“Yea…”

The train stopped as Akarin stepped in. “Ah. Looks like I picked the right car,” she teased.

“Akarin!” They all made room for the Water Mage.

“Reminiscing on Eutopolis again?”

“We can’t help it. Especially when we see Hime’s pendant,” Reni said.

“It does bring back fond memories.”

_“I don’t wanna train!”_

_“Hime. You’re whining again.”_

The six softly laughed at the time where Tomoko was whining about her first training session.

~

“Ah. That reminds me. Did news ever come up about reopening Clover?” Akarin asked as they all walked to school. “Reni might not need it but most of you do.”

“They might end up cancelling reconstruction since they haven’t met their fundraising quota yet,” Kanako said. “Besides, rumors have spread saying the school is cursed if it was attacked. Only the six of us know the whole truth, anyway. They just put it off as a possible terrorist attack.”

“True. But won’t your families want to move out?”

“They’re trying to,” Reni said. “My parents want to move all the way back to Yokohama. Same for Momoka going back to Osaka once the school year ends.”

“I see…”

“Meeting up will be even harder with all the commuting,” Aarin sighed. “And we still have to decide a date to celebrate Hime’s birthday if Kuri keep falling on that day.”

“Times will sure be rough,” Momoka said sheepishly.

Kanako ran up ahead of them before looking at them. “Why not? Unknowns won’t be appearing until Hime’ rebirth is confirmed and living in different cities will make things more fun. We can visit each other and tell more stories about events. Besides.” She stopped to face them, making them stop as well. “We promised Hime that we’d live for her sake. Why not take advantage of these changes to keep that promise? And when the time comes, we can tell her about all of the fun things we did here. Tell Tomoko about all of our accomplishments.”

The five looked at her and couldn’t help but to smile. “That’s true.”

“We can’t break promises to her,” Reni said. “So it’s an oath. Have as much fun as we can in this life and accomplish all of our goals to tell her.” She held out her fist.

They formed a circle. “An oath to tell her of good memories,” Momoka said.

“Time for attendance!” “Are you ready?” “Count off!”

“ONE!”

“TWO!”

“THREE!”

“FOUR!”

“FIVE!”

“SIX!”

“OOH YAY!”

“Let’s go!” Kanako said, only to hear cheers from the five before they raced off to school.

_Hime. We will definitely keep our promise. The path will be long and hard but we will definitely see you again. We’ll tell you of all the things we did in this life and will make sure our voices were heard. We promise._


End file.
